New legislation aims to boost farmworker pay and support agricultural employers
State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Bakersfield, have introduced legislation to create a tax credit for agricultural employers to help cover the cost of paying overtime wages to farmworkers.
Senate Bill 921, co-sponsored by the California Farm Bureau and the California Association of Winegrape Growers, aims to ensure farmworkers have more opportunities to earn overtime pay while also providing relief to struggling agricultural businesses.
“I’m proud to introduce SB 921, a straightforward bill that gives California’s farm employers a payroll tax credit to help cover the extra cost of overtime pay for our hardworking farmworkers,” Grove said. “This means more overtime hours and better take-home pay for the folks who put food on America’s tables. This is a win-win solution for both the business and our farmworkers who want to work more hours during their peak season. A huge thank-you to my friends at the California Farm Bureau and the California Association of Winegrape Growers for partnering with me on this common-sense solution.”
Hurtado added, “Behind every meal is a story of love, sacrifice and hard work in the fields. SB 921 honors the sweat and sacrifice behind our food with a modern, fair approach to wages — because in agriculture, farms, workers and families rise or fall together.”
The bill addresses concerns farmworkers themselves raised with lawmakers in Sacramento last year in support of SB 628, a similar agricultural overtime tax credit that Grove introduced.
SB 921 would:
- Establish a payroll tax credit to offset the cost to employers of paying overtime wages to their agricultural employees. “Overtime wages” are defined as the difference between an employees’ overtime rate of pay and their regular rate of pay.
- Increase overtime hours for farmworkers, boosting their take-home pay and providing much-needed financial stability in rural communities.
Farmworkers have experienced reduced work hours and earnings since the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016 became law, according to research by Dr. Alexandra Hill, an assistant professor of cooperative extension at the University of California, Berkeley, who researches agricultural economics and farmworker well-being. Beginning in 2019, the law phased in a requirement that farmworkers be paid time and a half when they work more than 40 hours a week. Previously, farmworkers worked up to 60 hours a week before they were entitled to overtime pay. According to national surveys Hill analyzed, California farmworkers reported working between 4.2 and 4.7 fewer hours per week in 2022 than in 2012. The National Agricultural Workers Survey found that farmworkers reported reduced average weekly earnings of $120 per week during that timeframe, while the American Community Survey found farmworkers’ annual earnings declined by $2,800 from 2012 to 2023.
Shannon Douglass, president of the California Farm Bureau, said, “Farmers warned the Legislature a decade ago that changes to the agricultural overtime law would reduce work hours and cost farmworkers wages, and those concerns have proven true. Many farmworker families have seen hours and earnings decline, a reality farmworkers themselves shared with lawmakers in Sacramento last year in support of Senator Grove’s ag overtime tax credit bill. Meanwhile, family farms operating on thin margins have been forced to make hard choices just to avoid operating at a loss. This tax credit is a practical solution that puts money directly into the hands of farmworkers, helps farms remain viable employers and strengthens the rural communities that grow our food. It’s an investment in California’s food security and the people who make it possible.”
Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, said, “California lawmakers need to come together in a bipartisan manner, just as leaders have done in Oregon, Massachusetts and New York, to ensure farmworkers can earn overtime pay while keeping farms viable. Last year, California found $420 million to expand a tax credit for the entertainment industry. California invests in what it values, and agriculture is asking to be valued. CAWG thanks Senators Grove and Hurtado for their leadership on this important issue.”
SB 921 is modeled on California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program, which increased by $420 million annually in 2025. In the most recent allocation, 52 film projects were selected, which will employ an estimated 8,900 cast and crew and 46,400 background performers statewide. By comparison, a tax credit for agricultural overtime could improve earnings for roughly 415,000 California farmworkers.
Other states have taken bipartisan action to address unintended consequences of agricultural overtime laws:
- Oregon offers a refundable personal or corporate income tax credit for employers based on overtime wages paid to agricultural workers through 2028.
- New York offers a similar tax credit through 2032 that is based on the eligible overtime agricultural businesses pay.
- In Massachusetts, Adam Gómez, D-Springfield, is pursuing a tax credit to reimburse farmers for the cost of overtime wages.
As other states act to address the real-world impacts of agricultural overtime laws, California faces a clear choice: Update its policy or risk continued unintended consequences. SB 921 offers a path forward that increases farmworker earnings, supports agricultural employers and helps ensure policies intended to benefit farmworkers do not inadvertently reduce their wages.
The California Farm Bureau works to protect family farms and ranches as part of a nationwide network representing more than 5 million Farm Bureau members. Learn more at www.cfbf.com or follow @cafarmbureau on Instagram, LinkedIn, X or Facebook.
###
.svg.png?cacheid=0.9616018850896426)
