Overtime for Agricultural Workers
The daily and weekly thresholds at which agricultural workers receive overtime pay at a rate of one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay will phase-in according to the following schedule:
|
Schedule for Changes to Daily and Weekly Hours After Which Agricultural Workers Receive Overtime Pay |
||
|---|---|---|
| Effective date for employers with 26 or more employees: | Effective date for employers with 25 or fewer employees | Overtime (1.5x regular rate of pay) required after the following hours per day / hours per workweek: |
| Jan. 1, 2019 | Jan. 1, 2022 | 9.5 / 55 |
| Jan. 1, 2020 | Jan. 1, 2023 | 9 / 50 |
| Jan. 1, 2021 | Jan. 1, 2024 | 8.5 / 45 |
| Jan. 1, 2022* | Jan. 1, 2025* | 8 / 40 |
*Double the regular rate of pay required after 12 hours in a workday.
For pre-existing overtime requirements for agricultural workers, including on the 7th day of work in a workweek, please see Wage Order 14.
What protections other than overtime pay changed for agricultural workers?
Beginning January 1, 2017, agricultural workers are entitled to all statutory protections in the working hours and overtime requirements in Labor Code sections 500 through 556, and Labor Code section 558.1, from which they were previously excluded (but the daily and weekly overtime thresholds apply according to the timeline indicated above). This means that certain rights of agricultural employees and obligations of agricultural employers are now specifically set forth in the Labor Code, in addition to the protections available under the applicable Wage Order. This includes, for example, standards regarding meal periods, alternative workweek schedules, make-up work time, the collective bargaining agreement exemption, the one day’s rest in seven requirement, and the administrative, executive, or professional overtime exemption standard.
Agricultural employees are also generally entitled to time and one-half pay for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work, and double-time pay for all work performed in excess of eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of work. These protections from Wage Order 14 continue to apply, consistent with Labor Code section 510, regardless of employer size.
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