California Agricultural and Domestic Workers Get New Overtime Rights

By Susan Prince, JD, M.S.L., Legal Editor

Agricultural and domestic workers in California have won new overtime rights under state law. BLR^® Legal Editor Susan Prince, JD, MSL, has all the information our readers need to know on how these new laws differ from current legislation, what to expect in the coming years, and what it means for California employers.

The Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016 removes “the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and creates a schedule that phases in overtime requirements for agricultural workers … over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022….” The new law provides employers that employ 25 or fewer employees an additional 3 years to comply with the phasing in of these overtime requirements.

The Current Agricultural Overtime Law

Farm workers in California currently may not be employed more than 10 hours in a workday or more than 6 days in any workweek, unless they are paid 1¹/₂ times their regular rate of pay for hours in excess of 10 in any workday and for the first 8 hours on the 7th day of work and double the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 8 on the 7th day of work in the workweek (IWC Wage Order 14).

This exception does not apply to those employed in on-farm preparation of agricultural products for market and in the handling of products after harvest or for those whose primary duty is irrigation.

The New Agricultural Overtime Law

Specifically, the new law states:

• Beginning January 1, 2019: For an employer that employs more than 25 employees, any person employed in an agricultural occupation must be paid 1¹/₂ times his or her regular rate of pay for working more than 9¹/₂ hours in any 1 workday or more than 55 hours in any 1 workweek. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the effective date is January 1, 2022.
• Beginning January 1, 2020: For an employer that employs more than 25 employees, any person employed in an agricultural occupation must be paid 1¹/₂ times his or her regular rate of pay for working more than 9 hours in any 1 workday or working in excess of 50 hours in any 1 workweek. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the effective date is January 1, 2023.
• Beginning January 1, 2021: For an employer that employs more than 25 employees, any person employed in an agricultural occupation must be paid 1¹/₂ times his or her regular rate of pay for working more than 8¹/₂ hours in any 1 workday or more than 45 hours in any 1 workweek. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the effective date is January 1, 2024.
• Beginning January 1, 2022: For an employer that employs more than 25 employees, any person employed in an agricultural occupation must be paid 1¹/₂ times his or her regular rate of pay for working more than 8 hours in any 1 workday or more than 40 hours in any 1 workweek. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the effective date is January 1, 2025.
• Beginning January 1, 2022: For employers that employ more than 25 employees, any person employed in an agricultural occupation must be paid double time for working more than 12 hours in 1 day. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the effective date is January 1, 2025.

A day of rest must be provided to any person employed in an agricultural occupation effective January 1, 2017. In addition, meal periods must be provided effective January 1, 2017. Employees must be allowed a half-hour meal break during any work period of more than 5 hours per day.

Employees may voluntarily give up their meal breaks if the workday does not exceed 6 hours. Employees who work more than 10 hours per day must be provided a second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total hours worked is less than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived, but only if the first meal period was not waived.

Read on here for more information on this important California overtime development.