Jason Turek, a fourth-generation farmer in the town of Genoa, did not mince words when sharing how he thought a proposed 40-hour overtime threshold would affect agriculture in Cayuga County and New York.
"I would describe it as putting a farm into hospice," said Turek, who has 130 employees at his vegetable farm. "It's an exit plan is what it is."
Turek's comments are in line with what many farmers have said about lowering the overtime threshold from 60 to 40 hours. A three-member wage board recommended a phased-in schedule that would lower the number of hours needed for overtime pay over a 10-year period.
The wage board's recommendation will be forwarded to state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, who will make a final determination. Reardon could accept the plan or reject it. Farmers like Turek are hoping for the latter.
The debate over overtime pay for farmers heated up in 2019 when the state Legislature passed the Farm Laborers Fair Practices Act and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it into law. The law included a provision that set the overtime threshold at 60 hours a week, but a wage board would determine whether it would remain at that level or lowered to 40 hours a week, the standard in many other industries.
Several farmworkers advocated for the change. Crispin Hernandez, a member leader for the Workers' Center of Central New York, said he worked at a dairy farm where he was expected to work 70 hours without a day of rest.
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