ALBANY, New York (WWNY) – The state wage board will take one final round of testimony Friday on a proposal to reduce the threshold for paying overtime on New York’s farms from 60 hours to 40.
Most businesses must pay overtime after an employee has worked 40 hours.
But at three hearings this month, the majority of people testifying said the threshold for farmers paying their help overtime should remain at 60 hours.
“If there is a reduction in the current overtime threshold, it is going to put us at an even bigger competitive disadvantage to the rest of the nation,” said Helen Giroux, who operates a farm and orchard in the north country.
“Labor is our number one expense, year over year. Agriculture cannot limit itself to a 40 hour work week,” she said.
“Caring for live animals and growing crops is a seven day a week job.”
Casey Porter from Porterdale Farms in Jefferson County said the Porter family farm employs 32 people year round and adds more people during crop season.
She said the farm does business with 55 local businesses, and contributes heavily to the tax base of the local school system.
“Many have asked about our plans, should the overtime threshold get lower,” she told the wage board. “And the answer, unfortunately, is bleak.”
Domain Velasquez oversees a herd of cattle on a Jefferson County farm, and has 11 employees reporting to him. He’s a legal immigrant from Guatemala who purchased a home in Sackets Harbor.
“All the people I manage want 60 hours per week. If overtime is reduced to 40 hours, the farm will be forced to cut hours and my people will leave for another state,” Velasquez said.
The wage board was originally scheduled to make a decision about the overtime rule in mid-December, but postponed it and took more testimony. We have reached out to the board to ask when a decision may be forthcoming; when we get a response we’ll update this story.
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