Law To Mandate Farmworker Overtime Fails

Members of an alliance of about two dozen agricultural trade groups are breathing a sigh of relief over California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent veto of a law that would have required overtime pay for agricultural workers after eight hours per day and 40 hours per week.

“We appreciate that the governor was able to look beyond the emotional rhetoric and focus on the true impact this measure would have had on farmers and their employees,” said Rich Matteis, administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation, one of 27 agricultural and business groups that had urged the governor to veto the bill. “The governor clearly grasps that the unpredictable and seasonal nature of farming requires more flexibility in its labor laws.”

It’s important to remember that existing California law already provides overtime pay for farm employees, said Matteis. They qualify for overtime wages after 10 hours of work in a single day, 60 hours of work in a week, and for any hours worked on a seventh consecutive day. “That existing law provides enough flexibility for both farmers and their employees to deal with the variability in farm work,” he said.

In announcing he wouldn’t sign the bill, Schwarzenegger said that his administration has made great strides to improve the lives of agricultural workers. He noted that he has signed legislation to increase the minimum wage, tried to improve the state’s infrastructure to ensure adequate water supplies for the state’s agricultural regions, and enacted the first-in-the-nation outdoor heat stress regulations to help keep agricultural workers safe. But the overtime law was not practical, said Schwarzenegger.

“Unfortunately, this measure, while well intended, will not improve the lives of California’s agricultural workers and instead will result in additional burdens on California businesses, increased unemployment, and lower wages,” the governor said. “In order to remain competitive against other states that do not have such wage requirements, businesses will simply avoid paying overtime. Instead of working 10-hour days, multiple crews will be hired to work shorter shifts, resulting in lower take home pay for all workers. Businesses trying to compete under the new wage rules may become unprofitable and go out of business, resulting in further damage to our already fragile economy.”

In addition to the organizations against the bill, coalition officials said more than 10,000 California agricultural workers had signed a petition sent to the governor urging him to veto the bill because it might have reduced farmworker wages by more than 30%.

Coalition members opposed to the law, SB 1121, included the following groups: Agricultural Council of California, Allied Grape Growers, California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Bean Shippers Association, California Citrus Mutual, California Grape & Tree Fruit League, California Pear Growers Association, California Seed Association, Grower Shipper Association of Central California, Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo Counties, Family Winemakers of California, and Western Growers.