Fairness for Farm Workers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1080 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 FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. COX of Cali- fornia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SWALWELL of Cali- fornia, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Farm 4 Workers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1080 IH SEC. 2. REDRESSING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AGRICUL- 1 TURAL WORKERS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR 2 STANDARDS ACT OF 1938. 3 (a) ENDING DISCRIMINATION WITH RESPECT TO 4 OVERTIME HOURS REQUIREMENTS.—Section 7 of the 5 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is 6 amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 10 (C), beginning on January 1, 2021, no employer 11 shall employ any employee employed in agriculture 12 (who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in 13 the production of goods for commerce, or is em- 14 ployed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in 15 the production of goods for commerce) for a work- 16 week that is longer than the hours specified under 17 subparagraph (B), unless such employee receives 18 compensation for employment in excess of the hours 19 specified in such subparagraph at a rate not less 20 than one and one-half times the regular rate at 21 which the employee is employed. 22 ‘‘(B) The hours specified in this subparagraph 23 are, subject to subparagraph (C), as follows: 24 ‘‘(i) Beginning on January 1, 2021, fifty- 25 five hours in any workweek. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1080 IH ‘‘(ii) Beginning on January 1, 2022, fifty 1 hours in any workweek. 2 ‘‘(iii) Beginning on January 1, 2023, forty- 3 five hours in any workweek. 4 ‘‘(iv) Beginning on January 1, 2024, forty 5 hours in any workweek. 6 ‘‘(C) With respect to any employer that employs 7 25 or fewer employees— 8 ‘‘(i) the requirement under subparagraph 9 (A) shall begin on January 1, 2024; and 10 ‘‘(ii) the hours specified under subpara- 11 graph (B) shall apply as follows: 12 ‘‘(I) The number of hours specified 13 under subparagraph (B)(i) shall begin on 14 January 1, 2024. 15 ‘‘(II) The number of hours specified 16 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall begin on 17 January 1, 2025. 18 ‘‘(III) The number of hours specified 19 under subparagraph (B)(iii) shall begin on 20 January 1, 2026. 21 ‘‘(IV) The number of hours specified 22 under subparagraph (B)(iv) shall begin on 23 January 1, 2027.’’; and 24 (2) by repealing subsection (m). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1080 IH (b) REMOVING CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS FOR AGRICUL- 1 TURAL WORK.—Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards 2 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and 4 all that follows through the semicolon and inserting 5 ‘‘if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or 6 other member of the employer’s immediate family;’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b), by repealing paragraphs 8 (12) through (16); and 9 (3) by striking subsections (h) through (j). 10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made 11 by— 12 (1) subsections (a)(2), (b)(1), (b)(3), and (d) 13 shall take effect— 14 (A) with respect to an employer that em- 15 ploys more than 25 employees, on January 1, 16 2024; and 17 (B) with respect to an employer that em- 18 ploys 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 19 2027; and 20 (2) subsection (b)(2) shall take effect— 21 (A) with respect to an employer that em- 22 ploys more than 25 employees, on January 1, 23 2021; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1080 IH (B) with respect to an employer that em- 1 ploys 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 2 2024. 3 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 4 (1) FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.— 5 Section 13(c)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards 6 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)(1)(A)) is amended by 7 striking ‘‘none of the employees’’ and all that follows 8 through ‘‘section 6(a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘all of the 9 employees of which are employed in agriculture and 10 are employed by an employer who did not, during 11 any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar 12 year, use more than 500 man-days of agricultural 13 labor (within the meaning of the exemption under 14 subsection (a)(6)(A), as in effect on the day before 15 the date of enactment of the Fairness for Farm 16 Workers Act)’’. 17 (2) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL 18 WORKER PROTECTION ACT.—Section 4(a)(2) of the 19 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protec- 20 tion Act (29 U.S.C. 1803(a)(2)) is amended by 21 striking ‘‘for whom the man-days exemption’’ and all 22 that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘who 23 did not, during any calendar quarter during the pre- 24 ceding calendar year, use more than 500 man-days 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1080 IH of agricultural labor (within the meaning of the ex- 1 emption under section 13(a)(6)(A) of the Fair Labor 2 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(6)(A)), as 3 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 4 the Fairness for Farm Workers Act).’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1080.IH H1080 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS