What This Bill Does
This bill changes federal overtime rules for farm workers. It allows federal law to override state laws that require farms to limit work weeks to less than 60 hours.
Who It Affects
Agricultural employees and farm businesses in states with stricter overtime rules.
Key Provisions
• Federal overtime law will now override any state law that sets a maximum work week of less than 60 hours for farm workers. (Sec. 2)
What Changes
States will no longer be able to enforce their own overtime laws for agricultural employees if those laws require work weeks shorter than 60 hours. Federal law becomes the standard instead.
Important Definitions
None defined in bill text.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 353
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for the
preemption of certain State overtime laws for agricultural employees.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 12, 2023
Mr. WILLIAMS of New York (for himself, Ms. TENNEY, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr.
MOLINARO, and Mr. LANGWORTHY) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide
for the preemption of certain State overtime laws for
agricultural employees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Local Farms
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Act’’.
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SEC. 2. PREEMPTION OF CERTAIN STATE OVERTIME LAWS
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FOR AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYEES.
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Section 18 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
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(29 U.S.C. 218) is amended—
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•HR 353 IH
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘No provision
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of this Act or of any order thereunder’’ and insert-
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ing ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (c), no provi-
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sion of this Act or of any order thereunder’’; and
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(2) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(c) The provisions of this Act shall preempt any
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State law that provides for a maximum workweek for em-
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ployees employed in agriculture of less than 60 hours.’’.
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Æ
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