SACRAMENTO — The state Senate passed a bill Monday that seeks to eliminate a decades-old law that excludes agricultural workers from receiving overtime pay after working more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.
AB 1313 would lower overtime pay eligibility for farm laborers from 10 hours of work in a single day to eight and from 60 hours in a week to 40. It also would require growers to provide laborers breaks to eat and rest during overtime work.
The Senate vote split along party lines 22-15, with most Democrats in support. Of the two senators who represent much of Ventura County, Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, joined with opponents, and Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, abstained.
"People are entitled to some period of recreation, rest and relief from the work that they do," Sen. Joe Simitian, D- Palo Alto, told the Senate before the vote. The bill's author, Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, said the measure provides the same protection for farmworkers as other farmers are entitled to.
The bill would erase a law excluding overtime compensation rights to farmworkers that was established in 1938 under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Along with establishing a federal minimum wage and prohibiting oppressive child labor, the act sets statutory minimum requirements for labor laws in all states
In 1941, the California Legislature chose to exempt all agricultural employees from the statutory requirements of overtime. Subsequently, by regulation, a provision was added granting farmworkers overtime after 10 hours in a day.
In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill. In his veto message, he wrote that the change would add burdens on business, resulting in less employment and lower wages.
Opponents Monday echoed that sentiment, arguing that lowering overtime eligibility to eight hours would prompt growers to rely more on machinery than laborers to pick crops.
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http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug/20/state-senate-approves-bill-to-extend-overtime-to/#ixzz24Kit5pBp - vcstar.com
