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Overtime Rules for Farm Jobs Vary By State

Farm Jobs Wage Rules (Including Overtime Rules) Vary By State

The rules for pay rates for farm workers vary by state. At present (late 2022) 8 states have rules that require overtime, but even these vary considerably. The issue is not simple; there are arguments pro and con for establishing an overtime rate. But one thing is certain, if farm labor wages are increased, so will food prices that Americans pay.  It is also possible that this would force many farms to:

• Automate, use more harvesting, picking, planting equipment and eliminate many farm jobs, or
• Switch to a pick-your-own format or
• Close and sell the farm, typically for housing development.

 The net effect of this would be to reduce the number and total hours of farm jobs as farms adapt.

Federal rules

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) law sets the federal standards for minimum wage and overtime standards. All agricultural workers are exempt from the overtime pay provision of the FLSA. Agricultural workers do not have to be paid more than their regular pay rate when they’re asked to work over forty hours per week. See the FLSA Factsheet PDF here.

State Farm Job wage laws

States that have overtime laws for agricultural workers:

California, Colorado,
• Hawaii,
• Maryland,
• Minnesota,
• New York, and
Oregon,
• Washington State.

This website has an interactive map to see each state's farm job overtime wage rules. There is also a state by state map of agriculture workers minimum wage laws here.

 

A few states are in the process of adopting rules:

Massachusetts

 

Related news stories above farm labor and wages

Fortune Magazine October 2022 Farmers Alarmed as NY Looks at Expanded Overtime for Workers; New York state is looking at lowering the farm worker overtime threshold from 60 hours a week. Associated Press, Jan. 28, 2022, Analysis of Florida Agriculture workers overtime wage laws Colorado farmworker overtime pay Kansas Workplace Laws and Requirements FAQs

FLSA Definition of a "farm job"

“farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as agricultural commodities in section 1141j(g) of title 12), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.”