Deadline Looms For California Farm Worker Overtime Bill

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Time is running out for the California Senate Appropriations Committee to act on a farm worker overtime pay bill. A similar version of the bill failed in June by two votes, but Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, (D -80), says she made a few changes and would like her peers to "take another look."

"It's time the people really start to look at farm workers as human beings," said Gonzalez.

More than 420,000 people work the fields during the peak harvest times.

"That farm worker has to be compensated," said Gonzalez.

Since 1976, farm workers' overtime pay has kicked in at 10 hours, which is two hours after the typical California hourly employee.

"If you're out there in the fields, those hot fields, doing back breaking work, you don't have those same protections," said Gonzalez.

AB 1066 would change the overtime pay structure to start at eight hours. For smaller family run farms, the new pay structure would be phased in over several years. This is a change from the original bill.

"It's a delicate balance between taking care of your employees and being able to pay your bills at the end of the da," said Bryan Little with the California Farm Bureau Federation.

He says California is one of only four states in the country to even offer overtime pay, nd that AB 1066 has unintended consequences.

"Growers aren't going to have any incentive to continue to employ people in California and they're going to look to do what they can to reduce their cost," said Little.

He says the workers in the fields could end up losing hours and ultimately, money.

"If this goes the way that it seems to be going right now, it's going to be difficult for them to put their kids through school, pay for housing for their family, and groceries," said Little.

Gonzalez disagrees, she says farms are more profitable than ever despite increasing worker pay.

"That's always a tactic of big business is to threaten that there will be job loss," said Gonzalez.

Good for the worker? Good for the employer? Or bad for both? Elected leaders must decide.

The United Farm Workers Federation has voiced their support for the bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has until Friday Aug. 12 to make a decision. From there the Senate will have a vote. If the bill passes in the Senate, the Assembly will then vote on the bill before it gets sent to the governor's desk.