OT threshold for farmworkers lowered to 40 hours per week
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Farmworkers could potentially have an easier time qualifying for overtime pay after New York State, following two years of review, lowered the OT threshold to 40 hours per week from the current 60 hours.
State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon has adopted the recommendation of the Farm Laborers Wage Board to reduce the trigger point under which time-and-a-half must be paid to 56 hours on Jan. 1, 2024, from the current 60 hours per week. The threshold will then fall to 52 hours at the start of 2026; 48 hours in 2028; 44 hours in 2030 and finally 40 hours in 2032.
Farm employees only became eligible for overtime pay in 2020 after the State Legislature and then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo approved the Farm Laborer Fair Labor Practices Act of 2019.