Amended in Assembly June 1, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 30, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2757

Introduced by Assembly Members Gonzalez, Bonta, Cristina Garcia, and Roger Hernández

(Principal coauthor: Senator Hall)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chiu, Chu, Gipson, Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, McCarty, Medina, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, and Ting)

(Coauthors: Senators begin insert Allen, end insert Beall, Block, Hancock, Lara, Leno, Liu, and Mitchell)

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 554 of, and to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 857) to Part 2 of Division 2 of, the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2757, as amended, Gonzalez. Agricultural workers: wages, hours, and working conditions.

Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements, and other working conditions 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 penalties for the violation of these requirements. Existing law exempts agricultural employees from these requirements. Under existing law, the function of the Department of Industrial Relations is to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.

This bill would remove the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and would create a schedule that would phase in overtime requirements for agricultural workers, as defined, over the course of 4 years, from 2017 to 2020, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2020, the bill would require any work performed by a person, employed in an agricultural occupation, in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay. begin insert Under the bill, these overtime pay provisions would be phased in from 2019 to 2022, inclusive, for employers who employ 25 or fewer employees. The bill would authorize the Governor to delay the implementation of these overtime pay provisions if the Governor also suspends the implementation of a scheduled state minimum wage increase, as specified. end insert The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to update a specified wage order for consistency with these provisions.

The bill would create a state-mandated local program by including agricultural employees as a class of employees protected by criminal penalties under existing law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 554 of the Labor Code is amended to
read:

554.  

(a) Sections 551 and 552 do not apply to cases of
emergency or to work performed in the protection of life or
property from loss or destruction, or to any common carrier
engaged in or connected with the movement of trains. Nothing in
this chapter shall be construed to prevent an accumulation of days
of rest when the nature of the employment reasonably requires
that the employee work seven or more consecutive days, if in each
calendar month the employee receives days of rest equivalent to
one day’s rest in seven. The requirement respecting the equivalent
of one day’s rest in seven shall apply, notwithstanding the other
provisions of this chapter relating to collective bargaining
agreements, where the employer and a labor organization
representing employees of the employer have entered into a valid
collective bargaining agreement respecting the hours of work of
the employees, unless the agreement expressly provides otherwise.

(b) In addition to the exceptions specified in subdivision (a),
the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement may,
when in his or her judgment hardship will result, exempt any
employer or employees from the provisions of Sections 551 and
552.

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 857) is added
to Part 2 of Division 2 of the Labor Code, to read:

 

Chapter  6. Agriculture

 

857.  

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016.

858.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Agricultural employees engage in back-breaking work every
day.

(b) Few occupations in today’s America are as physically
demanding and exhausting as agricultural work.

(c) In 1938, the United States Congress enacted the federal Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.), which
excluded agricultural workers from wage protections and overtime
compensation requirements.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact the Phase-In
Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016 to provide any
person employed in an agricultural occupation in California, as
defined in Order No. 14-2001 of the Industrial Welfare
Commission (revised 07-2014) with an opportunity to earn
overtime compensation under the same standards as millions of
other Californians.

859.  

For purposes of this chapter, “employed in an agricultural
occupation” has the same meaning as in Order No.14-2001 of the
Industrial Welfare Commission (revised 07-2014).

860.  

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including
Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 500):

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Commencing July 1, 2017, begin insert except as provided in
paragraph (2), end insert any person employed in an agricultural occupation
shall not be employed more than nine and one-half hours in any
one workday or work in excess of 55 hours in any one workweek,
unless the employee receives one and one-half times that
employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over nine and
one-half hours in any workday or over 55 hours in any workweek.

begin insert

(2) This subdivision shall apply to an employer who employs
25 or fewer employees commencing January 1, 2019.

end insert

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Commencing January 1, 2018, begin insert except as provided in
paragraph (2), end insert any person employed in an agricultural occupation
shall not be employed more than nine hours in any one workday
or work in excess of 50 hours in any one workweek, unless the
employee receives one and one-half times that employee’s regular
rate of pay for all hours worked over nine hours in any workday
or over 50 hours in any workweek.

begin insert

(2) This subdivision shall apply to an employer who employs
25 or fewer employees commencing January 1, 2020.

end insert

(c)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Commencing January 1, 2019, begin insert except as provided in
paragraph (2), end insert any person employed in an agricultural occupation
shall not be employed more than eight and one-half hours in any
one workday or work in excess of 45 hours in any one workweek,
unless the employee receives one and one-half times that
employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over eight and
one-half hours in any workday or over 45 hours in any workweek.

begin insert

(2) This subdivision shall apply to an employer who employs
25 or fewer employees commencing January 1, 2021.

end insert

(d)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Commencing January 1, 2020, begin insert except as provided in
paragraph (2), end insert any person employed in an agricultural occupation
shall not be employed more than eight hours in any one workday
or work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek, unless the
employee receives one and one-half times that employee’s regular
rate of pay for all hours worked over eight hours in any workday
or over 40 hours in any workweek.

begin insert

(2) This subdivision shall apply to an employer who employs
25 or fewer employees commencing January 1, 2022.

end insert

861.  

Except as set forth in Section 860 and subdivision (a) of
Section 862, all other provisions of Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 500) regarding compensation for overtime work shall apply
to workers in an agricultural occupation commencing January 1,
2017.

862.  

(a) Beginning January 1, 2020, begin insert except as provided in
subdivision (c), end insert and consistent with Section 510, any work
performed by a person, employed in an agricultural occupation,
in excess of 12 hours in one day shall be compensated at the rate
of no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay.

(b) Consistent with Section 861, notwithstanding subdivision
begin delete (a), end delete begin insert (a) or Section 863, end insert the other provisions of Section 510 shall
be applicable to workers in an agricultural occupation commencing
January 1, 2017.

begin insert

(c) Subdivision (a) shall apply to an employer who employs 25
or fewer employees commencing January 1, 2022.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert 863. end insert   

(a) Notwithstanding Section 860 or 862, the Governor
may temporarily suspend scheduled phase in overtime requirements
set forth in subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 860, or subdivision
(a) or (c) of Section 862 only if the Governor suspends scheduled
minimum wage increases pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph
(A) of, and subparagraph (B) of, paragraph (3) of subdivision (d)
of Section 1182.12.

(b) If the Governor makes a final determination to temporarily
suspend scheduled phase in overtime requirements set forth in
subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 860 or subdivision (a) or (c)
of Section 862 for the following year, all implementation dates
applicable to those subdivisions that are suspended subsequent to
the September 1 final determination date, consistent with clause
(i) of subparagraph (A) of, and subparagraph (B) of, paragraph
(3) of subdivision (d) of Section 1182.12, shall be postponed by
an additional year, but the full implementation of the overtime
requirements set forth in subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 860
or subdivision (a) or (c) of Section 862 shall in no event be later
than January 1, 2022. The Governor’s temporary suspension under
this section shall be by proclamation.

(c) The Governor’s authority to suspend the scheduled overtime
requirements under this section shall end upon the phase in of the
overtime requirements contained in subdivision (d) of Section 860,
the phase in of the overtime requirements contained in subdivision
(c) of Section 862, or on January 1, 2022, whichever comes first.

end insert

begin delete 863. end delete

begin insert 864. end insert   

The Department of Industrial Relations shall update Wage
Order No. 14-2001 to be consistent with this chapter.

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.