Syracuse, N.Y. -- Farm workers will eventually be paid overtime after a 40-hour work week, the state labor commissioner ruled today.
The threshold for overtime for farm workers is now 60 hours. Under the decision today by Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, that threshold will drop by four hours every two years, until it reaches 40 hours in 2032.
Advocates say farm workers, who work long hours under back-breaking conditions, deserve to be treated like all other workers. Farmers say the ruling will cost them too much money and force them out of business.
Farmers, however, can be reimbursed for all of the overtime premium -- plus 18% for related costs -- under a law passed this year by the state Legislature.
Reardon accepted the recommendations of the Farm Laborers Wage Board, which recommended the overtime schedule early this month.
“I feel the Farm Laborers Wage Board’s recommendations are the best path forward to ensure equity for farm workers and success for agricultural businesses,” Reardon said in a statement.
Business group Upstate United blasted the decision, saying it would hasten the decline of family farms in New York state.
“There’s no doubt that Commissioner Reardon’s disastrous decision will lead to fewer family farms, smaller paychecks for farm workers and higher costs for consumers,” the group said in a statement. “Overtime tax credits and other measures simply aren’t enough to help New York’s family farms survive.”
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