With a decision on whether to lower the overtime threshold for farm workers due to be revisited in late fall, state Sen. George Borrello and fellow Republicans have called on state leaders to reject any further reductions in the 60-hour threshold for overtime.
That threshold was established by the Farm Laborer Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA) of 2019.
The Republicans sent a letter to the governor and labor commissioner outlining their request.
The law, which took effect in January 2020, granted year-round and seasonal farm employees many of the benefits of workers in industries like manufacturing and construction, including overtime pay of one and a half times an employee’s regular wages after 60 hours of work per week.
The law also included the creation of an appointed three-member Farm Wage Board charged with making a recommendation to the commissioner of labor on whether to lower the overtime threshold even further.
After weeks of hearings on the issue, the board met in December 2020 to make their recommendation, ultimately deciding to delay any changes for a year in recognition of the pandemic disruptions to agriculture.
“While well-intentioned, the Farm Labor Act was pushed by activists on the left who lacked practical knowledge of farming operations and finances,” Borrello, ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, said. “The result was a drastic law that ignored fundamental differences between agriculture and other industries and that placed significant new financial burdens on the already-stressed farming community.”
The senator from Chautauqua County said farmers he’s spoken with say that implementing the 60-hour threshold has been difficult and has caused some unhappiness among the farm workers who’ve had to endure new restrictions on their hours. Nevertheless, he added, most farmers have been able to make the labor situation work.
“However, they are emphatic that any further lowering of the threshold would be financially unsustainable,” Borrello said. “They would be faced with a choice of transitioning to less labor-intensive crops or giving up farming altogether.”
In either scenario, both farmers and farm workers come out on the losing end, Borrello insisted. If the true intent of the law is to help workers, he said the overtime provision needs to stay at its current level, at least until more data can be collected on its impact.
In a story last month by public radio station WRVO of Syracuse, some dairy workers at a Central New York farm said they don’t mind working 60 hours, but dropping the overtime threshold to 40 would be preferred.
Crispin Hernandez, a former dairy worker and member of the Workers’ Center in Syracuse, said a 40-hour overtime threshold is a basic right farmworkers deserve, like any other worker.
“Some workers have worked like this for more than 20 years,” Hernandez told WRVO through an interpreter. “They deserve time with their family. They deserve to rest. They deserve this extra time for them.”
Borrello also cites the argument made by agricultural organizations that information from multiple growing seasons is required to make a more accurate assessment of the law. In response, he is sponsoring legislation that would allow for more time to collect data on the 2019 law, to provide a more clear picture of the impact on farms.
Senate Bill 2690 would extend to Dec. 31, 2024, the deadline for the wage board to submit its recommendation to the labor commissioner on lowering the threshold.
The measure would also require the board to consider what Borrello calls common-sense factors in its decision-making, including the farm wage and overtime rates in neighboring states and the supply and demand for workers.
