State Assembly Takes On Farm Worker Overtime

POSTED: 11:21 am PDT July 1, 2010
UPDATED: 11:32 am PDT July 1, 2010

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A measure by Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) to extend overtime pay provisions to farm workers who work more than eight hours in a day will be up for a vote of the California State Assembly on Thursday in Sacramento.

Florez, who has authored legislation throughout his decade-plus in the legislature to extend basic rights and protections to this underrepresented group of workers, expects Senate Bill 1121 to pass the Assembly tomorrow and land on the desk of Governor Schwarzenegger.

“I am hopeful that the Governor’s experience as an immigrant who initially supported himself through manual labor will give him empathy to grasp the importance of this bill to some of California’s hardest workers,” said Florez.  

Farm workers are currently the only California employees who are exempt from receiving overtime when they work more than eight hours in a day, although they often labor 12 or more hours a day at harvest time. SB 1121 would simply remove that exemption and treat them as any other workers are treated.

During his legislative career, Florez has successfully fought to improve the safety of farm worker transportation, to implement workplace heat regulations that provide for shade, rest and water, and to protect workers from the hazard of pesticide drift. He has identified SB 1121 as one of his legislative priorities for his final term in the California State Senate, which ends this year.

“I hope to leave this body knowing I have made a positive change in the lives of people who work in some of the most arduous, intense conditions to ensure that you and I can put food on the table for our families,” said Florez.

Information Provided By Press Secretary Jennifer Hanson

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