Agricultural Overtime in California: What Farm Employers Owe

January 1, 2025 marked the end of California’s agricultural overtime phase-in. Since then, every farm employer, regardless of size, owes time and a half after 8 hours in a workday or 40 in a workweek, and double time after 12 hours in a day, under Labor Code section 860 and Wage Order 14. Payroll systems built for the old thresholds still produce claims. An agricultural employer’s defense depends on its time records and on whether each worker is actually covered by Wage Order 14.

What did AB 1066 change?

It moved farmworkers onto the standard overtime rules over several years. The Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016 states its intent to give agricultural workers “an opportunity to earn overtime compensation under the same standards as millions of other Californians.” Before the change, the Labor Commissioner’s FAQ explains, Wage Order 14 “generally required overtime pay for all hours worked over 10 hours in a day or more than 6 days in a workweek.”

The final step is in section 860(d): an agricultural employee “shall not be employed more than eight hours in any one workday or work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek, unless the employee receives one and one-half times that employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over eight hours in any workday or over 40 hours in any workweek.” Larger employers reached that step on January 1, 2022. Employers with 25 or fewer employees reached it on January 1, 2025.

When is double time owed?

After 12 hours in a day, and on the seventh consecutive day. Under section 862, work “in excess of 12 hours in one day shall be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay.” Small employers became subject to that rule on January 1, 2025.

Seventh-day rules have applied longer. Wage Order 14 requires “one and one-half (1½) times such employee’s regular rate of pay for the first eight (8) hours on the seventh (7th) consecutive day of work and double the employee’s regular rate of pay for each hour worked over eight (8) on the seventh (7th) consecutive day of work in the workweek.” The Labor Commissioner’s FAQ states these protections “continue to apply, consistent with Labor Code section 510, regardless of employer size.” Harvest schedules that run seven days straight produce more claims than any other pattern.

Which workers count as agricultural employees?

Those doing work listed in Wage Order 14. The order defines “employed in an agricultural occupation” to include field work such as “The sowing and planting of any agricultural or horticultural commodity,” care and harvesting of crops, and “The raising, feeding and management of livestock.” Under section 859, the statute uses the same definition.

The definition reaches beyond the field. Harvesting work under the order includes “transportation on the farm or to a place of first processing or distribution,” so drivers hauling the crop from field to packer are usually covered. Their hours often go unrecorded because they start before the crew and finish after it. The order defines hours worked as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer,” which generally reaches required equipment checks and waiting at the packing house. Those minutes tend to push a driver past 8 hours a day, and drivers’ hours are where a claim often starts.

Coverage matters because the order excludes some workers. Wage Order 14 states that “No provision of this order shall apply to any employee covered by Order No. 8 or Order No. 13, relating to industries handling products after harvest.” A packing shed or processing plant may fall under a different wage order with its own rules. The order also excludes a “parent, spouse, child, or legally adopted child of the employer.” Misidentifying the wage order is a common source of errors, and it cuts both ways.

What other Labor Code rules now apply to farm employers?

Most of the hours-of-work chapter. According to the Labor Commissioner’s overtime page, since January 1, 2017 agricultural workers have been “entitled to all statutory protections in the working hours and overtime requirements in Labor Code sections 500 through 556, and Labor Code section 558.1.” That includes meal periods, alternative workweek schedules, and the one day’s rest in seven rule.

Two of those statutes change the exposure. Under section 554, an employer whose work “reasonably requires that the employee work seven or more consecutive days” may do so “if in each calendar month the employee receives days of rest equivalent to one day’s rest in seven.” And under section 558.1, an owner, director, officer, or managing agent who “violates, or causes to be violated” the hours rules “may be held liable as the employer for such violation.” A family farm’s owner can be named personally.

Does federal law exempt farmworkers from overtime?

Yes, but that doesn’t help a California employer. The FLSA’s overtime requirement doesn’t apply to “any employee employed in agriculture” under 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(12). California’s rule is stricter, so it controls. An employer that relies on federal guidance or a multistate payroll setting can underpay California workers without realizing it.

How do agricultural overtime rules compare?

What should a farm employer do when an overtime claim arrives?

These cases are decided by the records. Collect them before responding.

1. Preserve timecards, crew sheets, piece-rate tallies, payroll registers, wage statements, and any farm labor contractor records for the claim period.
2. Calendar the response date on the claim, PAGA notice, or summons, and check for an arbitration agreement and an employment practices liability (EPLI) policy with notice requirements.
3. Identify the crew leaders and supervisors who tracked hours, and make sure no worker who complained faces any action that could look like retaliation.
4. Gather the documents the claim depends on, including the workweek definition, the days each worker worked in a row, and the wage order the company applied to each job.
5. Talk to a lawyer before recalculating and paying back wages, contacting the workers about the claim, or offering anything to settle.

Employers looking for agricultural overtime defense for California employers can review the firm’s practice page.

Agricultural overtime questions from California employers

Do we owe overtime to workers paid by the piece?

Yes. Wage Order 14 applies to agricultural workers “whether paid on a time, piece rate, commission, or other basis.” Overtime is calculated from the employee’s regular rate, which for piece-rate workers depends on total earnings and hours. Piece-rate pay also carries separate rest period pay requirements.

How do we count employees for the small-employer dates?

The Labor Commissioner’s FAQ says the same counting method used for the minimum wage schedule applies to the overtime phase-in. Since every employer reached the final step on January 1, 2025, the count matters now mostly for claims covering earlier years, when smaller employers had higher thresholds.

Are irrigators and sheepherders covered?

Yes. The Labor Commissioner’s FAQ explains that irrigators and sheepherders, along with licensed commercial fishing crew members previously excluded from overtime under Wage Order 14, now follow the same phase-in schedule. Sheepherders have separate rules in other respects, so review the full wage order before assuming any exemption remains.

Can a farm labor contractor’s mistakes become our liability?

Often. Under Labor Code section 2810.3, a client employer “shall share with a labor contractor all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for all workers supplied by that labor contractor” for the payment of wages. The statute excludes businesses with fewer than 25 workers in total and those with five or fewer contractor-supplied workers at a time. A waiver of the section “is contrary to public policy, and is void and unenforceable,” but the grower can still seek indemnity from the contractor under their agreement. Review the contractor’s payroll practices before the season, and keep copies of its time records for your crews.

Does the new H-2A wage law affect overtime?

It raises the base. AB 2646 (Stats. 2026, ch. 956), signed September 30, 2026, adds Labor Code section 1208, which sets the minimum hourly wage for an “approved agricultural employee and corresponding employee” at $19.75. The bill defines a corresponding employee as a California resident who “performs the same, or substantially similar, work during the same time period” as a temporary worker hired from outside the state. As a non-urgency statute, it takes effect January 1, 2027. A higher regular rate means a higher overtime rate for those crews.

If an agricultural overtime claim reaches your company

If your company has received a wage claim, PAGA notice, or lawsuit over farmworker overtime, the time records and the wage order classification usually decide how much of the claim is real. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents employers defending employment lawsuits and claims through its business litigation practice, including agricultural overtime claims. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.

Sources

The statutes are Labor Code section 554, section 558.1, section 858, section 859, section 860, section 862, section 2810.3, and 29 U.S.C. § 213. The new statute is AB 2646 (Stats. 2026, ch. 956). The regulation is IWC Wage Order 14. The agency sources are the Labor Commissioner’s pages on overtime for agricultural workers and its FAQ.

This post is general information about California employment law as of November 7, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Employment statutes, regulations, and court decisions change often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.