On September 12, California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation granting farmworkers the right to overtime pay on par with other California workers.  Assembly Bill 1066 provides for incremental overtime pay hour increases for farmworkers over a 4-year period beginning in 2019. Currently, farmworkers are paid overtime rates if they work more than 10 hours per day or 60 hours per workweek, compared to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per workweek applicable to most other hourly California employees.
 
The phase in of overtime pay will begin in 2019 and continue until 2022 for farms with more than 25 employees, and will take place between 2022 and 2024 for smaller farms. In 2019, overtime pay will begin to accrue after 9½ hours work per day or 55 hours work per week. The daily hours worked before overtime accrual will decrease by an additional half hour each year thereafter until 2022 when overtime pay will accrue after 8 hours work per day. Likewise, the weekly hours worked before overtime accrual will decrease by 5 hours per week through 2022. Small farms will follow a similar schedule beginning in 2022 and continuing through 2024.
 
Compliance with California wage and hour laws is essential for both employees and employers. Violations deprive employees of their right to fair pay and noncompliance can be extremely costly to employers. If you have questions about whether your business is in compliance with wage and hour laws or regarding whether your employer is applying these laws correctly, please contact Janssen Malloy LLP.