Pay bumps coming for more farmworkers, long denied overtime

By MAYSOON KHAN
Associated Press/Report for America

STUYVESANT, N.Y. (AP) — Harvest season means long days for U.S. farmworkers — but usually no overtime pay. Federal law exempts farms from rules entitling most workers to 1.5 times their regular wage when they work more than 40 hours in a week. New York is now joining several states that have begun to change this rule. The state’s labor commissioner on Friday approved a recommendation to phase in a 40-hour threshold for farmworker overtime over the next decade. Right now, farmworkers in New York qualify for overtime pay after they have worked 60 hours in a week. Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon called the plan  “the best path forward” for farmworker equity.