TOWN OF ELLISBURG, New York (WWNY) – Frustrations are growing as farmers fear they are going unheard about the overtime threshold on the farm.
At issue is when a farm worker earns overtime. Right now, it’s after working 60 hours a week.
But the Farm Laborers Wage Board is moving toward lowering it to 40 hours a week.
We spoke to one local farmer who doesn’t like the direction New York is moving.
“In the last roughly 12 weeks, our 20 employees have averaged about 120 hours a week of overtime,” said Devon Shelmidine of Sheland Farms.
Work on the farm isn’t a 9 to 5 job. At Sheland Farms in the town of Ellisburg, Shelmidine has been against lowering the threshold for overtime to 40 hours. But that’s the direction the Farm Laborers Wage Board wants to go.
After a visit to a St. Lawrence County farm on July 29, it seems Governor Kathy Hochul may be ready for that move as well.
“If this happens over a long rollout time, the state of New York will pick up the additional overtime costs,” Hochul said.
Hochul says the state will pick up those costs through a new tax credit in the state budget. Shelmidine is worried about the state’s answer being a “tax credit,” meaning farmers will get the credit sometime down the road.
“I think the state claims they’re going to pick up that difference between $40 and $60 of overtime, but farmers are still going to have to find a way to pay it upfront,” said Shelmidine.
Meanwhile, lawmakers across New York have been outspoken about how the threshold would hurt farmers across the state.
Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin held a news conference Monday in Albany County where Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R. – 21st District) spoke out against what she called “Kathy Hochul’s war on our family farms.”
Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R. – 117th District)tells 7 News, “The governor clearly has not talked to people on the ground regarding the overtime threshold.”
But the people on the ground, farmers, did talk in front of the Farm Laborers Wage Board. Shelmindine says they just weren’t listened to.
“It really has to do with the politics of it, and the money of the groups that are pushing the politics in the state of New York, unfortunately,” said Shelmidine.
Assemblyman Mark Walczyk (R. – 116th District)has also been outspoken about the recommendation. He’s sponsoring new legislation to end the Farm Laborers Wage Board altogether.
The wage board is expected to vote on its final overtime recommendation on September 6.
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