Rural & Migrant Ministry, Inc. commended the New York State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul for taking steps to ensure that the labor rights of farmworkers are protected. The recently adopted state budget facilitates lowering the overtime threshold for farmworkers from 60 to 40 hours a week by offering a new tax credit for farmers, who are recently required to provide overtime pay to farmworkers after 60 hours. Now that the tax credit is approved, it is time for Hochul’s administration to affirm the new overtime threshold, creating a pathway for overtime pay after 40 hours of work. This is the case in most every other employment sector in the state.
“Since the economic concerns of farmers have been addressed by this tax credit, we believe that the question of if farmworkers should receive fair treatment under the law has been put to rest. In what other industry would it be acceptable to place the burden of profits on the backs of the workforce by denying them reasonable overtime pay?” said The Rev. Richard Witt, Executive Director of RMM. “Farmworkers are hardworking people who deserve the same rights as every other worker.”
The Farm Laborer Fair Labor Practices Act was adopted in 2019 after a 25-year campaign by RMM and others, granting basic labor rights for farmworkers in New York State. This included overtime pay, a day of rest, workers comp, paid family leave, the right to organize, housing protection and unemployment insurance. But the law set overtime pay...
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