WATERTOWN â Last week, a panel charged by the state Legislature with presenting recommendations on potentially lowering the overtime threshold for farm workers below 60 hours decided to postpone making any policy decision until later in 2021, giving beleaguered farmers a reprieve, at least for now.
Farmers, labor groups and justice advocates had been watching the proceedings of the three-member Farm Wage Board since it was formed and began hearings in the beginning of 2021 as charged by the 2019 Farm Laborers Fair Practices Act passed by the Legislature. Despite being temporarily derailed by the pandemic, the panel proceeded with multiple hearings to gather public input on whether the state should lower the threshold after which farm workers are required to be paid overtime from its current point of 60 hours per week as set by the 2019 law.