California farmers should get a tax break for overtime paid to their workers | Opinion

In 2016 the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1066, which gave farm workers the same rights to overtime pay as employees in other industries.

A host of farming groups opposed the measure, saying it would cost growers too much. Instead of paying overtime, the opposing groups said farmers would scale back workers’ hours to keep them from getting extra pay.

And, in fact, that appears to have come true.

A study of the early impacts of AB 1066, done by Assistant Professor Alexandra Hill in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Berkeley, concludes that farm workers had their hours cut and actually experienced a loss of earnings as a result of the overtime law.

Now a Republican state senator from Bakersfield is proposing that California farmers get a payroll tax credit to offset overtime wages paid to ag workers. State Sen. Shannon Grove has authored SB 628, and has the backing of the California Farm Bureau and California Association of Wine Grape Growers, which both opposed AB 1066.

“California’s farmers and farm workers are the backbone of our agricultural economy,” Grove, who also represents Clovis, said in a statement announcing her bill. “Unfortunately, overtime mandates have made it harder for farm workers to get the hours they need and for growers to get their product to market.

“SB 628 is a common-sense solution that ensures farm workers have more opportunities to earn, while providing relief to our agricultural businesses who sustain the world’s food chain supply.”

Relief for California farmers

The bill, if passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, will let small farmers claim tax credits every quarter; larger operations could take credits more frequently. The bill was introduced Feb. 20 and awaits being heard in committees.

While no estimate has yet been given of how much total credit farmers might get under SB 628, the measure is meant to provide some relief to California growers who produce under the overtime rule, unlike farmers in other states who don’t face such a law.

Brian Little, a spokesman for the Farm Bureau, said that AB 1066 was modeled after an 8 to 5, Monday through Friday work schedule. But the needs of farming often don’t fit that framework.

AB 1066 “ignored the on-the-ground reality of agriculture, of harvesting crops and tending crops when it needs to be done,” he said in a phone interview.

For example, during the harvest period wine grapes are constantly monitored for picking at just the right moment — whether that is 11 a.m. or 11 p.m.

Workers benefit

In her analysis, Hill said results from the first few years of the law show it was not benefiting workers as expected.

“This early evidence suggests that the law may not be benefiting the workers they aim to protect, but additional research is needed,” she wrote. It was clear workers were not being scheduled as much, she said. That meant they gained free time, or the chance to seek second jobs.

In a 2023 story, Fresno Bee reporter Melissa Montalvo pointed out that a Kerman farm worker complained the overtime law had dropped his take-home pay from $1,000 to about $600 when his hours were slashed from 60 hours a week to 40 hours per week.

AB 1066 was well intentioned, but as sometimes happens with legislation, created adverse impacts. Grove’s bill looks to expand working hours for farm workers while giving growers a financial break they need. The Legislature would be wise to approve the measure, and Gov. Newsom should sign it.