California first U.S. state to promise overtime to farmworkers

Farmworkers in the nation’s largest agricultural state will be entitled to the same overtime pay as most other hourly workers under a law that California Gov.

The bill’s enactment marked a major victory for the United Farm Workers union – and a setback for industry interests – six years after Brown’s predecessor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, vetoed a similar bill. AB1066 passed in the Assembly late August and will allow farmworkers to begin receiving overtime.

California employers now must pay time-and-a half to farmworkers after 10 hours in a day or 60 hours in a week. Jerry Brown on Monday signed historic legislation that would expand overtime pay for California farmworkers.

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This means farm workers like him can expect to be treated equal to most other California workers, when it comes to overtime pay, by the year 2022. Farms with 25 or fewer employees will be given an additional three years to comply. If this bill is signed into law, he will lose one third to one half of his income.

Requiring overtime, these opponents say, would be prohibitively expensive, leading farmers to cut back hours for pickers during a time when the workers need to earn more to make up for months of unemployment during other parts of the year. But Brown has often chosen to release signing statements on particularly thorny bills, in which he explains his reasoning.

Justin Oldfield, vice president of government relations for the California Cattlemen’s Association, said the obligation to care for animals “doesn’t always adhere to an eight-hour day, 40-hour work week”.

“People who work on farms and in our homes are some of America’s most vulnerable workers”, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez said in a statement. Those who work on California farms will see reduced paychecks and have their lives disrupted as these new worker overtime rules come into play.

Legislation such as AB 1066 only works if California consumers buy California farm products and opt not to buy cheaper food products from sources outside of California that do not meet the same labor and environmental stewardship standards that our farm products do.

They are likely to hire more employees rather than pay overtime, he said, resulting in a pay cut for existing employees. The state also requires that employers provide rest breaks and access to water and shade.

“Sometimes, the best intentions can have the worst consequences”, he said in a written statement.