BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1121|
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VETO
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
SENATE FLOOR : 23-12, 6/03/10
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,
Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price,
Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Denham, Dutton, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox, Oropeza, Wiggins
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-28, 7/1/10 - See last page for vote
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
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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
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
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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.
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
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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
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
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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
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
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state's agricultural industry at a competitive
disadvantage.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning Senate Bill 1121 without my signature.
In 1999, California enacted sweeping legislation concerning
overtime wages and adopted the requirements that overtime
be generally paid after eight hours of work. However, in
enacting the "Eight-Hour-Day Restoration and Workplace
Flexibility Act of 1999" the Legislature specifically
exempted agricultural workers from such overtime
requirements, recognizing that agricultural work is
different from other industries: it is seasonal, subject to
the unpredictability of Mother Nature, and requires the
harvesting of perishable goods. Indeed, while California
is the most progressive state in the nation by allowing
overtime pay for agricultural employees after 10 hours of
work, federal law exempts workers employed in agriculture
from overtime pay altogether. Senate Bill 1121 would cast
aside these longstanding rules and would require overtime
pay for agricultural workers after eight hours per day and
40 hours per week.
My administration has made great strides to improve the
lives of agricultural workers. I have signed legislation
to increase the minimum wage, fought hard to improve our
state's infrastructure to ensure adequate water supplies
for our agricultural regions, and enacted the
first-in-the-nation outdoor heat stress regulations to help
keep agricultural workers safe. Unfortunately, this
measure, while well-intended, will not improve the lives of
California's agricultural workers and instead will result
in additional burdens on California businesses, increased
unemployment, and lower wages. In order to remain
competitive against other states that do not have such wage
requirements, businesses will simply avoid paying overtime.
Instead of working 10-hour days, multiple crews will be
hired to work shorter shifts, resulting in lower take home
pay for all workers. Businesses trying to compete under
the new wage rules may become unprofitable and go out of
business, resulting in further damage to our already
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fragile economy.
Finally, it should be noted that Senate Bill 1121 would not
just change the rules governing overtime pay for
agricultural workers, but would also apply California's
confusing and burdensome rest and meal requirements.
Unfortunately, while there have been several attempts to
clean up this section of law, efforts at comprehensive
reform continue to fail. There is no reason to exacerbate
this continuing problem by adding agricultural workers to
it. For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue,
Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Chesbro, Fletcher, Galgiani,
Vacancy
PQ:mw 8/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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