BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1121|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 1121
          Author:   Florez (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE LABOR & INDUST. RELATIONS COMMITTEE  :  4-2, 5/3/10
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Leno, Yee
          NOES:  Wyland, Hollingsworth


           SUBJECT  :    Overtime wages:  agricultural workers

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill withdraws the exemption on  
          agricultural workers from overtime and meal period  
          requirements.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law, with certain exceptions, defines  
          a day's work as eight hours of labor.  Any additional hours  
          worked in excess of eight hours in one day, or a 40-hour  
          workweek, must be compensated with the payment of overtime.  


          Under existing law, the payment of overtime compensation is  
          as follows: 

          1. Any work in excess of eight hours in one workday, any  
             work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek, and the  
             first eight hours worked on the seventh day of work in  
             any one workweek shall be compensated at the rate of no  
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             less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay  
             for an employee.

          2. Any work in excess of 12 hours in one day shall be  
             compensated at the rate of no less than twice the  
             regular rate of pay for an employee.

          3. Any work in excess of eight hours on any seventh day of  
             a workweek shall be compensated at the rate of no less  
             than twice the regular rate of pay of an employee. 

          Existing law provides that the standard requirements for  
          the payment of overtime compensation do not apply where:

          1. An employee submits a written request to make up work  
             time that would be lost as a result of a personal  
             obligation of the employee if the make-up work time is  
             performed in the same workweek in which the work time  
             was lost.  Such make-up work time may not be counted  
             towards computing the total number of hours worked in a  
             day.

          2. An alternative workweek schedule has been adopted  
             pursuant to Section 511 of the Labor Code.  Under this  
             procedure, an employer may propose an alternative  
             workweek for no longer than 10 hours per day within a  
             40-hour workweek and, if it is approved, the employer is  
             not required to pay overtime compensation for such a  
             work schedule.  The employer must specify the workers in  
             a work unit and conduct a secret ballot election.  If  
             two-thirds of the workers approve, the new workweek is  
             deemed adopted.  The employer is required to make a  
             reasonable effort to find a work schedule not to exceed  
             eight hours for a worker unable to work the alternative  
             schedule.

          3. Employees have adopted an alternative workweek schedule  
             pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement if the  
             agreement expressly provides for wages, hours of work,  
             and working conditions of the employees, and if the  
             agreement provides premium wage rates for all overtime  
             hours worked and a regular hourly rate of pay for those  
             employees of not less than 30 percent more than the  
             state minimum wage. 







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          4. An alternative workweek schedule is inapplicable because  
             the work relates to cases of emergency or the protection  
             of life or property, to the movement of trains, or to  
             certain hardship exceptions as specified by the Chief of  
             the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

          Existing law requires, with certain exemptions, that all  
          employees receive a meal break of 30 minutes before the  
          start of the fifth hour of work, unless the work period is  
          no more than six hours and both the employer and the  
          employee choose to waive the meal period by mutual consent.  
           

          Existing law requires that if the work period is more than  
          ten hours, a second meal period of 30 minutes must also be  
          granted to an employee.  This second meal period can be  
          waived by the mutual consent of the employer and employee,  
          but only if the work period is no more than 12 hours, and  
          the first meal period was not waived.  

          Existing law exempts employers of agricultural workers from  
          these requirements.

          This bill requires that employers of agricultural workers  
          must follow these requirements.

           Prior Legislation

           AB 841 (Dickey), Chapter 1264, Statutes of 1941, originally  
          created the overtime exemption for agricultural workers.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/4/10)

          California Applicants' Attorneys Association
          California Commission on the Status of Women
          California Communities United Institute
          California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit  
          Union
          California Conference of Machinists
          California Employment Lawyers Association







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          California Labor Federation
          California Nurses Association
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
          Consumer Attorneys of California
          Engineers and Scientists of California
          International Longshore & Warehouse Union
          Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley
          Professional & Technical Engineers, Local 21
          UNITE HERE!
          United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Western States  
          Council
          Worksafe

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  5/4/10)

          Agricultural Council of California
          Alliance Western Milk Producers
          Allied Grape Growers
          California Association of Nurseries & Garden Centers
          California Association of Wheat Growers
          California Association of Winegrape Growers
          California Bean Shippers Association
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California Citrus Mutual
          California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association
          California Farm Bureau Federation
          California Grain & Feed Association
          California Grape and Tree Fruit League
          California Pear Growers Association
          California Seed Association
          California State Floral Association
          California Warehouse Association
          California Women for Agriculture
          Family Winemakers of California
          Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
           Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Santa Barbara and  
            San Luis Obispo Counties
          Nisei Farmers League
          Pacific Coast Renderers Association
          Pacific Egg & Poultry Association
          Taddei Vineyards
          Ventura County Agricultural Association
          Western Agriculture Processors Association







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          Western Growers
          Western United Dairymen
          Wine Institute

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    Proponents argue that agricultural  
          workers face increasingly difficult working conditions for  
          very low pay.  Proponents note that agricultural employees  
          are completely dependent on their employers for the  
          provision of bathrooms and clean water, and the  
          agricultural workers frequently work in incredibly hot  
          weather conditions, yet can only receive overtime after  
          they work 10 hours in a workday, or 60 hours in a workweek.  
           Proponents believe that agricultural employees should not  
          be treated in a unique or distinct way, and that the  
          two-tiered overtime provisions are antiquated and should be  
          abolished.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Opponents note that agriculture  
          is critically affected and dependent on weather conditions  
          and the seasonality of agricultural production, and  
          opponents argue that this requires greater flexibility in  
          scheduling work than other industries, which is currently  
          reflected in both federal and state labor laws.  Opponents  
          also argue that California already has the nation's most  
          progressive labor protections for agricultural production,  
          and that no other state currently requires overtime once  
          agricultural workers have exceeded the 40-hour workweek.   
          Moreover, opponents argue that due to razor-thin profit  
          margins, farmers will be forced to cut hours and layoff  
          employees if they face an increase in labor costs.   
          Opponents believe that this will hurt the California  
          economy, as agriculture has aided the state's recovery  
          during the current economic downturn, as well as place the  
          state's agricultural industry at a competitive  
          disadvantage.    
           

          PQ:mw  5/4/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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