A 50-hour harvest week in the Central Valley at $15 an hour comes to $825.00: 40 straight-time hours ($600.00) plus 10 overtime hours at $22.50. That same week in Texas stops at $600.00. The Fair Labor Standards Act has never required overtime for most agricultural labor.
Why agriculture sits outside the FLSA overtime standard
The FLSA of 1938 created the 40-hour workweek and the time-and-a-half mandate. Agriculture was carved out from day one. The exclusion wasn’t an oversight. It was the price of Southern congressional votes during the New Deal.
Today, most agricultural operators owe no overtime under national law, no matter how many hours someone works. The FLSA overtime provisions simply do not reach “employees employed in agriculture.”
For millions of farmworkers the question isn’t what Washington requires. It’s what Sacramento, St. Paul, or Helena requires. And that picture is patchy.
The AB 1066 phase-in
The Golden State ended agriculture’s blanket overtime exemption in 2016 with AB 1066. The rollout was gradual, keyed to employer size.
Large operators (26 or more employees) hit these thresholds: - 60 hours (2019) - 50 hours (2020) - 45 hours (2021) - 40 hours (2022 and after)
Smaller operators (25 or fewer employees) followed: - 60 hours (2022) - 50 hours (2023) - 45 hours (2024) - 40 hours (2025 and after)
By 2025, farmworkers in the state had the same basic weekly overtime threshold as workers in most other industries. The state also applies its daily overtime rules to agricultural employees now that the phase-in is complete: time and a half after 8 hours in a day, double time after 12 hours, and premium pay on a seventh consecutive day. Check the state Department of Industrial Relations website for current wage orders; thresholds can shift with legislation.
What the national agricultural exemption actually covers
The FLSA defines “agriculture” broadly: cultivating soil, raising livestock, harvesting crops, plus activities incidental to farming done on the farm (packing produce, storing grain).
Work on a farm? You’re probably exempt from the national overtime requirement. Work in a separately owned packing shed? You might not be. The distinction turns on whether the work is part of the agricultural operation or a standalone business.
Misclassification is common. Some operators assume the exemption applies when it doesn’t.
The math when overtime does apply
When state law requires overtime, or when the employer isn’t truly agricultural, the calculation follows the standard formula: 1.5 times the regular rate for hours beyond 40 in a workweek.
$15 an hour, 45 hours 40 straight-time hours × $15 = $600.00 5 overtime hours × $22.50 = $112.50 Total: $712.50
$20 an hour, 50 hours 40 straight-time hours × $20 = $800.00 10 overtime hours × $30.00 = $300.00 Total: $1,100.00
$25 an hour, 60 hours 40 straight-time hours × $25 = $1,000.00 20 overtime hours × $37.50 = $750.00 Total: $1,750.00
$35 an hour, 45 hours 40 straight-time hours × $35 = $1,400.00 5 overtime hours × $52.50 = $262.50 Total: $1,662.50
No daily overtime exists under national law. The standard is weekly only. A 12-hour day triggers nothing extra if the week stays under 40.
State rules decide the paycheck
There is no single answer to “do farmworkers get overtime?” It depends on where the work happens.
The West Coast’s most populous state now extends full overtime protections to agricultural workers. Minnesota and Montana have their own agricultural overtime provisions that differ from the national exemption. Many states, particularly in the South and Midwest, follow the national exemption exactly: no overtime protection for farmworkers at all.
The safest move: check your state labor department’s website. An employment attorney who knows local law can confirm whether a specific operation owes premium pay.
Piece rates and weighted-average overtime
Many farmworkers are paid by the bucket, row, or pound. When overtime applies, the regular rate isn’t an hourly wage. It’s total earnings divided by total hours worked.
The formula: 1. Add all earnings for the week (piece-rate pay, non-discretionary bonuses). 2. Divide by total hours worked. That’s the regular rate. 3. Multiply that regular rate by 0.5 for each overtime hour. That’s the overtime premium owed on top of the straight-time piece earnings already paid.
This is the weighted-average method. It’s the same calculation used when someone works multiple jobs at different rates for the same business.
If you’re owed overtime
Document everything. Hours, pay stubs, schedule changes, messages. The statute of limitations for FLSA claims is generally two years, or three if the violation was willful. State deadlines vary.
Contact your state labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Many employment attorneys offer free consultations and take overtime cases on contingency.
Overtime pay for agricultural workers: what to remember
National law doesn’t require overtime for most agricultural workers. That’s the historical rule and it remains the default. State law can override it, and in one large coastal state it has. Your overtime rights depend on three things: which state you work in, the size of the operation, and whether your job genuinely counts as agricultural work under the FLSA definition.
Don’t assume you’re excluded just because you work on a farm. Don’t assume you’re covered, either. Check your state’s rules. In the state that enacted AB 1066, the 40-hour threshold is now the law for agricultural employers of all sizes.