When it meets this afternoon, the three-member New York Farm Laborers Wage Board is expected to recommend the current 60-hour overtime threshold for farmworkers be lowered to 40 hours over 10 years.
In January, on a 2 to 1 vote, the board gave initial approval to the recommendation.
The Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act of 2019 required the formation of a wage board to consider an appropriate overtime threshold for farm workers. The three members are Buffalo Urban League past president Brenda McDuffie, New York State AFL-CIO past president Denis Hughes and New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher.
On February 28, 2020 New York Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon began a series of public hearings and explained the board’s task.
“New York has a long history of setting minimum wages and overtime protections through wage boards and wage orders that focus on specific industries and occupations. The task of this Farm Laborers Wage Board is narrowly focused on this issue of overtime.”
The board missed a 2021 deadline to decide the issue and continued scheduling virtual and in person hearings.
During a January 4, 2022 hearing, Knowledge Exchange Group Director Chris Laughton said an analysis of reducing the overtime threshold found farm production costs would increase significantly.
“Our analysis shows that the increase in overtime costs has to be considered in conjunction with other factors. Taken together the combination of overtime and wage increases is estimated to increase farm labor costs by $264 million per year, or 42 percent, should the threshold be reduced from 60 to 40 hours.”
Two weeks later, Democratic state Senator Jessica Ramos of the 13th district noted that she introduced the Farm Worker Fair Labor Practices Act that created the wage board.
“Overtime pay is a worker protection that was created under the FDR administration during the passage of the Fair Labor Practices Act. Unfortunately farm workers and domestic workers, a largely black work force at the time, were excluded from the legislation to gain the support of racist Southern Dixiecrats," said Senator Ramos. "Lowering the overtime threshold for farm workers would increase the sustainability of this labor-intensive job, thus offering long term financial security for them and their families.”
At the January 20th, 2022 meeting, Research Initiative Director and Pratt Institute economics teacher David Dyssegaard Kallick discussed a report he issued that disagrees with other studies indicating lowering the threshold will be detrimental to farmers.
“What we’ve seen as the state implemented the 60-hour overtime standard in the 2019 report, workers see less extreme overtime hours. Weekly pay is higher for workers. And farm owners can manage with the regulation," said Kallick. "Farm owners just two years ago said that a 60-hour threshold would be catastrophic. But they’ll invest in equipment and management practices that will increase productivity.”
State lawmakers have been meeting with farmers in advance of the meeting, raising alarm about the proposal. Last week, Republican state Senator Daphne Jordan of the 43rd district was at the Dutch Hollow Farm in Schodack Landing.
“There’s a grave misconception among the downstate interests that push for the lower threshold in comparing farming to the standard 40-hour work week and overtime pay in manufacturing and other industries," said Senator Jordan. "There’s also a misguided thought that New York’s agricultural community is dominated by large corporate supported factory farms. Actually in New York, 96 percent of farms are small family owned businesses.”
The New York Farm Laborers Wage Board is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m.
