NY State Senate Bill S2690

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 22, 2021	referred to labor

Co-Sponsors

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3822
Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Labor Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §674-a, Lab L
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S8944, A11034

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Amends provisions related to the farm laborers wage board, including how many times they must meet each year and additional considerations the wage board shall make when making a report to the governor and the legislature.

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S2690

SPONSOR: BORRELLO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the farm laborers wage
board

 
PURPOSE:

To delay provisions in the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act relat-
ing to the overtime Wage Board in order to provide a more accurate
picture of the impact that the provisions of the law have had on our
agriculture industry.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

The legislation makes several changes to section 674-a of Labor Law
including:

-Requiring the Wage Board to consult with agricultural employers and

laborers, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, and agricultural
experts at Cornell University
-Requiring additional public hearings in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024
-Extend the date that the report must be submitted to December 31, 2024
-Require the Wage Board to also consider: farm laborer wage and overtime
rates in neighboring states, the impact that COVID-19 has had on the
agricultural industry, total compensation received by farm laborers
relative to similar industries, labor statistics among various farming
subindustries, supply and demand of farm laborers in New York, actions
taken by farm employers in response to the Farm Workers Fair Laborers
Act
-Prohibiting the Commissioner of Labor from acting upon the Wage Board
recommendations no sooner than 180 days after receipt

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The 2019 Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act contained a provision to
create a Wage Board to evaluate lowering the overtime threshold for farm
laborers below 60 hours a week. The legislation required the Wage Board
to submit their results by December 31, 2020. Thankfully, the Board
delayed this until at least later in 2021. It is widely acknowledged
that this is still too short of a window and is grossly inadequate to
truly evaluate the landscape of the agriculture business cycle. So many
factors can destroy a farm's bottom line, whether its trade, weather,
natural disasters, or as we know all too well this past year, a pandem-
ic.

The bill seeks to delay the Board's recommendation for a few years to
provide more time to get an accurate representation of the financial
predicament of our state's farms. The bill also requires the Board to
look at factors beyond just "similarly situated industries in New York
State." Because if we are being honest, there are no similar industries
to farming, no matter how much one might attempt to equate such condi-
tions to 20" century factories.

Farmers provide a public good, and we've needed them more than ever
during the pandemic. We should provide them some relief from the already

onerous burden the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act and other
existing government mandates has placed on them.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S.8944/A.11034 Referred to Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

The bill will have a nominal State fiscal impact.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2690
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 22, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. BORRELLO, AKSHAR, GALLIVAN, HELMING, JORDAN, O'MARA,
   ORTT, SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
   committed to the Committee on Labor
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the labor law, in relation to the farm laborers wage
   board
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 674-a of the labor law, as added by chapter 105 of
 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   § 674-a. Farm laborers wage board. 1.  Wage  board.  The  commissioner
 shall hereby convene a farm laborers wage board. The wage board shall be
 comprised  of  three members: one representative of the farm bureau, one
 representative of the New York State AFL-CIO and one member appointed by
 the commissioner, who shall be selected  from  the  general  public  and
 designated  as  chairperson. The wage board shall hold its first hearing
 no later than March first, two thousand twenty. The members of the board
 shall not receive a salary or other  compensation,  but  shall  be  paid
 actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance
 of their duties.
   2.  Organization. Two-thirds of the members of the board shall consti-
 tute a quorum. The chairperson may from time  to  time  formulate  rules
 governing  the manner in which the wage board shall function and perform
 its duties under this article.
   3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings.
 The board [may] SHALL also consult with agricultural employers and  farm
 laborers,  and  their  respective  representatives, in the occupation or
 occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the commis-
 sioner and the commissioner of agriculture and  markets,  THE  NEW  YORK
 STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY, as
 it  shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths
 and to require by subpoena the attendance and  testimony  of  witnesses,

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD04780-02-1

 S. 2690                             2
 
 and the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to
 any  matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by
 the chairperson of the board and shall  be  served  and  have  the  same
 effect as if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power
 to  cause  depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state
 to be taken in the manner  prescribed  for  like  depositions  in  civil
 actions in the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law
 or statutory rules of procedure or evidence.
   4.  Public  hearings. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the
 wage board, the board shall conduct  public  hearings.  The  wage  board
 shall  only  meet within the state and must hold at least three hearings
 IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE AND AT LEAST TWO HEARINGS EACH  YEAR  IN  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-TWO  THROUGH  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-FOUR,  at which the
 public will be afforded an opportunity to provide comments.    At  least
 one Spanish language interpreter shall be present at each public hearing
 to  interpret  oral  testimony  delivered  in  Spanish.  Where a witness
 reveals the need for an interpreter in a language other than Spanish, to
 the extent  practicable,  an  interpreter  in  that  language  shall  be
 provided.  Any materials advertising such hearings shall be bilingual in
 English and Spanish. Any written materials disbursed at the  hearing  or
 subsequent to the hearing, including written testimony and hearing tran-
 scripts,  shall  be  available  in  English, Spanish, and, to the extent
 practicable, any other language upon request.
   5. Report. The wage board shall make a report to the governor and  the
 legislature,  including its recommendations as to overtime work for farm
 laborers. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted
 only after a vote of not less than a majority  of  all  its  members  in
 support of such report and recommendations. Such report shall be submit-
 ted  no  later than December thirty-first, two thousand [twenty] TWENTY-
 FOUR. The overtime rates recommended by the wage board shall not  be  in
 excess  of  sixty  hours, and the wage board shall specifically consider
 the extent to which overtime hours can be lowered below such amount  set
 in law, and may provide for a series of successively lower overtime work
 thresholds and phase-in dates as part of its determinations.
   6. The wage board shall consider:
   (A)  existing  overtime  rates in similarly situated industries in New
 York state;
   (B) FARM LABORER WAGE AND  OVERTIME  RATES  IN  STATES  THAT  SHARE  A
 GEOGRAPHICAL BORDER WITH NEW YORK;
   (C)  THE IMPACT THAT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS HAD ON THE AGRICULTURAL
 COMMUNITY, INCLUDING ADDITIONAL EXPENSES BORNE BY EMPLOYERS;
   (D) THE TOTAL COMPENSATION, INCLUDING OTHER BENEFITS SUCH  AS  HOUSING
 OR  INSURANCE, THAT FARM LABORERS RECEIVE RELATIVE TO SIMILARLY SITUATED
 INDUSTRIES;
   (E) STATISTICS THAT SHOW VARIOUS LABOR  REQUIREMENTS  AMONGST  VARIOUS
 FARMING  SUBINDUSTRIES,  INCLUDING  BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANIMAL, CROP, OR
 AQUAFARMING;
   (F) THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF FARM LABORERS IN NEW YORK; AND
   (G) THE LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS TAKEN BY FARM LABOR EMPLOYERS  IN
 RESPONSE  TO  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIVE OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND NINE-
 TEEN, AND OTHER ECONOMIC IMPACTS.
   7. Nothing contained in the wage  board's  report  or  recommendations
 shall  diminish  or  limit any rights, protections, benefits or entitle-
 ments currently available to any farm laborer.
   [7. The] 8. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY INCONSISTENT  PROVISION  OF  LAW,  THE
 commissioner  shall  comply  with  section six hundred fifty-six of this

 S. 2690                             3

 chapter NO SOONER THAN ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS upon receipt of the  wage
 board's  recommendations.  The  commissioner may reconvene the same wage
 board or appoint a new wage board in compliance with section six hundred
 fifty-nine of this chapter.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S2690

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Details

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S2690

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Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Details

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2690 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments