Fairness for Farm Workers Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3194 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide increased labor law protections for agricultural workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. CHU, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CORREA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LIEU, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide increased labor law protections for agricultural workers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3194 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Farm 2 Workers Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. REDRESSING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AGRICUL- 4 TURAL WORKERS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR 5 STANDARDS ACT OF 1938. 6 (a) ENDING DISCRIMINATION WITH RESPECT TO 7 OVERTIME HOURS REQUIREMENTS.—Section 7 of the 8 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is 9 amended— 10 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 13 (C), beginning on January 1, 2022, no employer 14 shall employ any employee employed in agriculture 15 (who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in 16 the production of goods for commerce, or is em- 17 ployed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in 18 the production of goods for commerce) for a work- 19 week that is longer than the hours specified under 20 subparagraph (B), unless such employee receives 21 compensation for employment in excess of the hours 22 specified in such subparagraph at a rate not less 23 than one and one-half times the regular rate at 24 which the employee is employed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3194 IH ‘‘(B) The hours specified in this subparagraph 1 are, subject to subparagraph (C), as follows: 2 ‘‘(i) Beginning on January 1, 2022, fifty- 3 five hours in any workweek. 4 ‘‘(ii) Beginning on January 1, 2023, fifty 5 hours in any workweek. 6 ‘‘(iii) Beginning on January 1, 2024, forty- 7 five hours in any workweek. 8 ‘‘(iv) Beginning on January 1, 2025, forty 9 hours in any workweek. 10 ‘‘(C) With respect to any employer that employs 11 25 or fewer employees— 12 ‘‘(i) the requirement under subparagraph 13 (A) shall begin on January 1, 2025; and 14 ‘‘(ii) the hours specified under subpara- 15 graph (B) shall apply as follows: 16 ‘‘(I) The number of hours specified 17 under subparagraph (B)(i) shall begin on 18 January 1, 2025. 19 ‘‘(II) The number of hours specified 20 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall begin on 21 January 1, 2026. 22 ‘‘(III) The number of hours specified 23 under subparagraph (B)(iii) shall begin on 24 January 1, 2027. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3194 IH ‘‘(IV) The number of hours specified 1 under subparagraph (B)(iv) shall begin on 2 January 1, 2028.’’; and 3 (2) by repealing subsection (m). 4 (b) REMOVING CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS FOR AGRICUL- 5 TURAL WORK.—Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards 6 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and 8 all that follows through the semicolon and inserting 9 ‘‘if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or 10 other member of the employer’s immediate family;’’; 11 (2) in subsection (b), by repealing paragraphs 12 (12) through (16); and 13 (3) by striking subsections (h) through (j). 14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made 15 by— 16 (1) subsections (a)(2), (b)(1), (b)(3), and (d) 17 shall take effect— 18 (A) with respect to an employer that em- 19 ploys more than 25 employees, on January 1, 20 2025; and 21 (B) with respect to an employer that em- 22 ploys 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 23 2028; and 24 (2) subsection (b)(2) shall take effect— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3194 IH (A) with respect to an employer that em- 1 ploys more than 25 employees, on January 1, 2 2022; and 3 (B) with respect to an employer that em- 4 ploys 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 5 2025. 6 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 7 (1) FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.— 8 Section 13(c)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards 9 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)(1)(A)) is amended by 10 striking ‘‘none of the employees’’ and all that follows 11 through ‘‘section 6(a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘all of the 12 employees of which are employed in agriculture and 13 are employed by an employer who did not, during 14 any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar 15 year, use more than 500 man-days of agricultural 16 labor (within the meaning of the exemption under 17 subsection (a)(6)(A), as in effect on the day before 18 the date of enactment of the Fairness for Farm 19 Workers Act)’’. 20 (2) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL 21 WORKER PROTECTION ACT.—Section 4(a)(2) of the 22 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protec- 23 tion Act (29 U.S.C. 1803(a)(2)) is amended by 24 striking ‘‘for whom the man-days exemption’’ and all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3194 IH that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘who 1 did not, during any calendar quarter during the pre- 2 ceding calendar year, use more than 500 man-days 3 of agricultural labor (within the meaning of the ex- 4 emption under section 13(a)(6)(A) of the Fair Labor 5 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(6)(A)), as 6 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 7 the Fairness for Farm Workers Act).’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3194.IH H3194 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS