Enacts the farmworkers fair labor practices act, granting collective bargaining rights, workers' compensation and unemployment benefits to farmworkers

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill entitles the bill "The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act."

Section 2 of the bill amends section 2 of the labor law to define the term "farm labor."

Section 3 of the bill amends section 161 of the labor law to allow farmworkers 24 consecutive hours of rest each week and to provide for payment of overtime for working on the day of rest.

Section 4 of the bill amends section 161 of the labor law to allow workers employed in dairies, creameries, and who care for live animals 24 hours of rest during each calendar week.

Section 5 of the bill establishes a new section 163 -a of the labor law to establish an overtime rate for farmworkers who work more than ten hours a day, sixty hours a week, or six days a week.

Section 6 of the bill amends section 564 of the labor law to change the unemployment insurance threshold to make farmworkers eligible for benefits if their employers paid at least $6250 in a calendar quarter. A new subdivision (2) is added to eliminate unemployment contributions by employers for farmworkers who are ineligible for benefits under the federal unemployment tax act.

Section 7 of the bill amends section 674 of the labor law to exclude the subminimum wage for underage farm workers.

Section 8 of the bill amends section 225 of the public health la.w to expand the application of the state sanitary code to farmworker housing occupied by less than five migrant workers.

Section 9 of the bill amends section 51 of the workers' compensation law to require the posting of notice of workers' compensation insurance in English and Spanish.

Section 10 of the bill adds a new section 110-b to the workers' compensation law to require foremen who receive notice of an injury to a worker suffered in the course of farm employment to inform the employer of the injury.

Section 11 of the bill amends the section 120 of the workers' compensation law to make it unlawful to discharge an employee for requesting a claim form relating to injuries incurred in the course of employment.

Section 12 of the bill amends section 201 of the workers' compensation law to provide disability insurance coverage to farm workers.

Section 13 of the bill adds a new section to protect the rights of farmworkers established under a collective bargaining agreement.

Section 14 of the bill establishes the effective dates of the rights established under the act.

Existing law

Section 161 of the labor law excludes farmworkers from the right to a day of rest.

The fair labor standards act, 29 D.S.C. section 213, excludes farmworkers from the right to overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours a week.

Section 564 of the labor law excludes farmworkers from eligibility for unemployment benefits unless their employer pays at least $20,000 in cash remuneration during a calendar quarter.

Section 674 of the labor law allows underage farmworkers to be paid less than the minimum wage rate.

Section 225 of the public health law exempts the application of the state sanitary code to housing for migrant farmworkers occupied by less than five persons.

Section 201(6)(A) of the workers' compensation law excludes farmworkers from the right to disability insurance.

Justification

Farmworkers perform essential services for New York's agricultural industry which ranks near the top nationally in dairy, apples, vegetables, grapes, floriculture and other products. Farm work is labor intensive that involves arduous tasks, exposure to pesticides, and long hours. Farmworkers frequently suffer physical injuries and illnesses in the course of their employment, often beyond that suffered by workers in other industries. It is unjust that the labor protections provided to other workers in New York that have been denied to farmworkers for decades. This legislation would grant farmworkers the basic employment rights long enjoyed by other public and private employees in our State.

Prior legislative history

2009: S.2247 Reported from Labor to Codes: A.1867 Passed Assembly.

2008: S.3884 Reported from Labor to Rules: A.7528 Advanced to 3rd Reading.

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

April 1, 2010, except that section fourteen shall take effect within 180 days after enactment, section five shall take effect on January 1, 2011, and sections eight and nine shall take effect on April 1, 2011.