BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1313|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1313
Author: Allen (D)
Amended: 9/2/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE LABOR & INDUST. COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/27/12
AYES: Lieu, DeSaulnier, Leno, Padilla, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS : Senate Rule SENATE APPROPRIATIONS
COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Overtime wages: agricultural workers
SOURCE : United Farm Workers
DIGEST : This bill removes the exemption for agricultural
workers from overtime and meal period requirements and
creates a state-mandated local program by including
agricultural employees as a class of employees protected by
criminal penalties under existing law.
ANALYSIS : Existing law sets wage and hour requirements
for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime
wages as specified to an employee who works in excess of a
workday or workweek, as defined, and imposes criminal
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penalties for the violation of these requirements.
Existing law exempts agricultural employees from these
requirements.
This bill removes the exemption for agricultural workers
from overtime and meal period requirements and creates a
state-mandated local program by including agricultural
employees as a class of employees protected by criminal
penalties under existing law.
Background
Agricultural workers: legislative background and
regulatory requirements : In 1938, Congress passed the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which set statutory minimum
requirements for labor laws in all states. The FLSA
includes, among other requirements, overtime provisions,
but these provisions were not extended to agricultural
workers. However, as with all provisions with the FLSA,
states are allowed to exceed the requirements laid out in
the FLSA.
The issue of overtime for agricultural workers in
California law was first dealt with in 1941. Previously,
the Labor Code had been mute on agricultural employees, but
in 1941 the Legislature chose to exempt all agricultural
employees from the statutory requirements of overtime,
similar to the FLSA. Subsequently, the statutory overtime
exemption has largely remained unchanged, and was
indirectly extended to meal periods in 1999.
This statutory exemption, however, did not prohibit the
Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) from legally
promulgating overtime provisions that were applicable
beyond the 8-hour timeframe. Currently, the applicable
wage order requires the payment of overtime wages when an
agricultural worker works longer than 10 hours in a single
day, and no more than six days during any workweek.
Similarly, the applicable wage order requires a meal period
after the 5th hour of work, but unlike statute is silent on
a second meal period after the 10th hour of work.
Similarly, this statutory construct would not prevent an
employer from agreeing to pay overtime wages before the
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10th hour. Such an agreement could be structured through a
company policy or through a contract, such as a collective
bargaining agreement.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/12)
United Farm Workers (source)
California Catholic Conference
California Labor Federation
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/12)
Agricultural Council of California
Alliance Western Milk Producers
Allied Grape Growers
American Pistachio Association
California Association of Nurseries and 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 Growers and Ginners 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 Tomato Growers Association
California Warehouse Association
California Women for Agriculture
Family Winemakers of California
Fresno County Farm Bureau
Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Santa Barbara and
San Luis
Obispo Counties
Neisei Farmers League
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Pacific Coast Renderers Association
Pacific Egg & Poultry Association
The California League of Food Processors
Ventura County Agricultural Association
Western Agricultural Processors Association
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 sixty 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 work week.
Moreover, opponents argue that due to razor-thin profit
margins, farmers will be forced to cut hours and lay-off
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:d 8/13/12 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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