SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ With little fanfare or a signing message, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed historic legislation that would expand overtime pay for California farmworkers.
AB 1066, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, calls for a phase-in of new overtime rules over four years, beginning in 2019.
The measure would lower the current 10-hour-day threshold for overtime by half an hour each year until it reaches the standard eight-hour day by 2022. The legislation also would phase in a 40-hour standard workweek for the first time. The governor would be able to suspend any part of the process for a year depending on economic conditions.
The measure came about after intense showdowns on the floor of the Assembly, where a similar proposal died in June, a few votes short of the majority it needed to pass.
The United Farm Workers of America, which sponsored the bill, says it addresses an injustice first inflicted on farmworkers nearly eight decades ago. In a critique similar to those used by opponents of increasing the minimum wage, opponents argued that it could backfire on farmworkers, saddling farmers and growers with higher costs and forcing them to limit work hours and hire more employees.
