Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed legislation that will grant farmworkers overtime pay after 40 hours of work beginning in 2027.
Under the law, farmworkers will be owed time-and-a-half wages after 55 weekly hours of work in 2023, after 48 hours of work in 2025-26 and after 40 hours per week beginning in 2027.
The legislation changes a farm pay formula that has stood for 84 years, and will lead to big changes for both employers and employees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed by Congress in 1938, established a federal minimum wage and provided for overtime pay for work beyond 40 hours. The act also provided 19 job classifications, including farmworkers, that are exempt from the overtime rule.
Critics argue the exemption was the product of racism and pandering to the needs of special interests — big, “corporate” farming concerns. Farmers of every scale note that farm work is distinct from factory production. The nature of most farm work makes it difficult to schedule in eight-hour days and 40-hour work weeks.
The economics of agriculture have not changed since 1938. Farmers still are price takers, not price makers, who cannot simply pass along higher labor costs to consumers the way retailers and manufacturers, though limited by the impacts of competition, do.
Gov. Brown acknowledged the bill she signed is not perfect. She points out the bill allows for a phase-in for overtime pay, a provision she says will give farm interests time to negotiate changes and improvements to...
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