State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, has introduced legislation to postpone any changes to overtime for farm laborers until 2024.

S.8944 was introduced in the state Legislature recently with Republican co-sponsors Pamela Helming, Daphne Jordan, Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, Michael Ranzenhofer, Sue Serino and James Seward. The news conference and Borrello’s legislation came as a response to the state Labor Department’s conclusion of three virtual farm workers wage hearings held via Zoom on Aug. 26, Aug. 27 and Aug. 31.

Those virtual hearings were announced with seemingly little time to make reservations to speak at the hearings and in a way that made it difficult for the public to participate.

Borrello’s bill would require the state-appointed Wage Board to consult with agricultural employers and laborers, the state agriculture and markets commissioner and agriculture experts at Cornell University and require additional public hearings in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The legislation also would require the Wage Board to consider farm laborer wage and overtime rates in neighboring states, the impact of COVID-19 on farms, compensation received by farm laborers compared to similar industries, the supply and demand of farm laborers in New York and actions taken by farm employers in response to the Farm Workers Fair Laborers Act. Lastly, the state labor commissioner would be prohibited from acting on a Wage Board’s recommendations for 180 days.

“Farms in New York state have not yet completed even a single growing season under the mandates of this burdensome new law, which took effect on January 1, 2020. They are still grappling with the changes and trying different strategies to comply with the 60-hour threshold while trying to keep their operations afloat. It is incomprehensible that they are already being confronted with the possibility that the threshold will be lowered even further,” Borrello said in a virtual news conference Monday. “Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis created fresh financial hardships for farmers and unprecedented disruptions to the food supply chain. Not only would it be terribly unfair to add to their difficulties right now, this season has been an anomaly, so it would be a mistake to base any long-term decisions on this year’s experiences. For these and so many reasons, we need to hit the pause button on this premature effort to evaluate a brand new law.”

Passed in 2019, the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act granted year-round and seasonal farm employees many of the same labor rights and benefits as workers in other industries. Those rights included collective bargaining, housing protections, enhanced worker’s compensation protection and overtime pay of one and a half times an employee’s regular wages after 60 hours of work per week and/or if they choose to work on a designated day of rest.

“While repeal of the law is the ultimate goal, our effort right now is to prevent further damage and bring common sense to this issue by delaying any decision on the 60-hour threshold until 2024,” Borrello said.