Farmworker Justice applauds the progress of an overtime protection for farmworkers in California. On August 20, California State Senate passed AB 1313 (introduced by Assembly member Michael Allen and sponsored by the United Farm Workers of America), which would give farmworkers the right to overtime pay when they work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.  The CA State Assembly has already passed a similar version of the bill, but due to changes in the Senate version, the bill has been referred back to the Assembly for approval.  The Assembly is expected to pass the bill and then it will move to Governor Brown’s desk for his signature.

Farmworkers have been excluded from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime law since it was passed in 1938. Few states have stepped in to extend overtime protection to farmworkers.  Currently, the law in California requires that farmworkers be paid overtime when they work over 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week.  AB 1313 will bring the overtime protections for farmworkers in line with those of many other workers, requiring overtime pay after 40 hours of work.

 

Congratulations to the United Farm Workers for its work promoting this historic legislation! 

 

We urge CA residents to contact the State Assembly and Governor Brown to express their support for this legislation and to urge Gov. Brown to sign this landmark legislation.