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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11034
IN ASSEMBLY
October 7, 2020
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Blankenbush,
Goodell, Palmesano, Tague, Manktelow, Palumbo) -- read once and
referred 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:
1 Section 1. Section 674-a of the labor law, as added by chapter 105 of
2 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 674-a. Farm laborers wage board. 1. Wage board. The commissioner
4 shall hereby convene a farm laborers wage board. The wage board shall be
5 comprised of three members: one representative of the farm bureau, one
6 representative of the New York State AFL-CIO and one member appointed by
7 the commissioner, who shall be selected from the general public and
8 designated as chairperson. The wage board shall hold its first hearing
9 no later than March first, two thousand twenty. The members of the board
10 shall not receive a salary or other compensation, but shall be paid
11 actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance
12 of their duties.
13 2. Organization. Two-thirds of the members of the board shall consti-
14 tute a quorum. The chairperson may from time to time formulate rules
15 governing the manner in which the wage board shall function and perform
16 its duties under this article.
17 3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings.
18 The board [may] shall also consult with agricultural employers and farm
19 laborers, and their respective representatives, in the occupation or
20 occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the commis-
21 sioner and the commissioner of agriculture and markets, the New York
22 state college of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell university, as
23 it shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths
24 and to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses,
25 and the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to
26 any matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by
27 the chairperson of the board and shall be served and have the same
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17202-01-0
A. 11034 2
1 effect as if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power
2 to cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state
3 to be taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil
4 actions in the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law
5 or statutory rules of procedure or evidence.
6 4. Public hearings. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the
7 wage board, the board shall conduct public hearings. The wage board
8 shall only meet within the state and must hold at least three hearings
9 in two thousand twenty, at least two hearings each year in two thousand
10 twenty-one through two thousand twenty-three, and at least three hear-
11 ings in two thousand twenty-four, at which the public will be afforded
12 an opportunity to provide comments. At least one Spanish language
13 interpreter shall be present at each public hearing to interpret oral
14 testimony delivered in Spanish. Where a witness reveals the need for an
15 interpreter in a language other than Spanish, to the extent practicable,
16 an interpreter in that language shall be provided. Any materials adver-
17 tising such hearings shall be bilingual in English and Spanish. Any
18 written materials disbursed at the hearing or subsequent to the hearing,
19 including written testimony and hearing transcripts, shall be available
20 in English, Spanish, and, to the extent practicable, any other language
21 upon request.
22 5. Report. The wage board shall make a report to the governor and the
23 legislature, including its recommendations as to overtime work for farm
24 laborers. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted
25 only after a vote of not less than a majority of all its members in
26 support of such report and recommendations. Such report shall be submit-
27 ted no later than December thirty-first, two thousand [twenty] twenty-
28 four. The overtime rates recommended by the wage board shall not be in
29 excess of sixty hours, and the wage board shall specifically consider
30 the extent to which overtime hours can be lowered below such amount set
31 in law, and may provide for a series of successively lower overtime work
32 thresholds and phase-in dates as part of its determinations.
33 6. The wage board shall consider:
34 (a) existing overtime rates in similarly situated industries in New
35 York state;
36 (b) farm laborer wage and overtime rates in states that share a
37 geographical border with New York;
38 (c) the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the agricultural
39 community, including additional expenses borne by employers;
40 (d) the total compensation, including other benefits such as housing
41 or insurance, that farm laborers receive relative to similarly situated
42 industries;
43 (e) statistics that show various labor requirements amongst various
44 farming subindustries, including but not limited to, animal, crop, or
45 aquafarming;
46 (f) the supply and demand of farm laborers in New York; and
47 (g) the labor and employment actions taken by farm labor employers in
48 response to chapter one hundred five of the laws of two thousand nine-
49 teen, and other economic impacts.
50 7. Nothing contained in the wage board's report or recommendations
51 shall diminish or limit any rights, protections, benefits or entitle-
52 ments currently available to any farm laborer.
53 [7. The] 8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the
54 commissioner shall comply with section six hundred fifty-six of this
55 chapter no sooner than one hundred eighty days
A. 11034 3
1 upon receipt of the wage board's recommendations. The commissioner may
2 reconvene the same wage board or appoint a new wage board in compliance
3 with section six hundred fifty-nine of this chapter.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
