Farm Wage Board sets overflow meeting, decision soon?

Because so many people registered to participate in its three virtual sessions, New York’s Department of Labor this week added an additional public hearing to its Farm Laborer Wage Board schedule for Friday, January 28, at 2 p.m.

The three-member board is considering the existing 60-hour-per-week overtime threshold for farm workers in New York State “and the extent to which the overtime work threshold may be lowered.” Some worker advocate groups want the threshold dropped to 40 hours per week; farm advocates are pushing back vigorously to keep the bar at its current 60 hours per week.

Analysts expect the panel to issue its findings soon. Opponents to the change, including Otsego County Assemblyman Chris Tague, have said they’re concerned that Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal calls for a ‘wage tax credit for farmers – perhaps signaling her administration’s expectations that the Board will rule in favor of a 40-hour overtime threshold.

The January 28 session is reserved for those who registered to testify on January 20 but were unable to do so owing to time constraints. The Department is taking no new registrants for the January 28 session.