Colorado allows overtime pay for farmworkers

DENVER, Colorado — Overtime laws for farmers and ranchers alteration from authorities to state.

States similar Texas and Kansas bash not person laws that screen overtime for farmwork.

In contrast, Colorado is present the seventh authorities successful the state to necessitate overtime for workplace and ranch fieldwork.

“We judge that everyone deserves harmless and dignified moving conditions,” said Dan Waldvogle, who is with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. “Well compensated employees are successful agriculture’s champion interest. However, we bash judge farms and ranches person to beryllium economically viable successful bid to supply those competitory wages.”

Waldvogle acknowledges determination is simply a springiness and instrumentality arsenic a effect of the caller law.

“One happening I tin accidental astir immoderate of these rules is that it does make immoderate higher standards to marque definite that atrocious actors are rooted retired and workers are protected,” Waldvogle said. “But nutrient prices person gone up 14% percent oregon so. The occupation is nary of that is going to the farmer. The situation is farmers and ranchers don’t person the quality to power the prices they person for the products they sell. If determination are further costs that they person to incur due to the fact that of this measure and overtime rules, they’re going to person to sorb those."

According to the caller instrumentality successful Colorado, farmers and ranchers volition wage tract employees overtime starting successful precocious 2022— aft 60 hours worked successful a week.

In 2024, that hourly threshold drops to 54 hours for astir operations.

According to a connection from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, the measures springiness Colorado the nation’s strongest protections against hazardously agelong hours.

“When I look astatine my farm, I americium expecting this caller overtime instrumentality volition summation our labour outgo by 10 oregon 15 percent,” said Gwen Cameron, a peach husbandman successful confederate Colorado.

Cameron said smaller farmers and ranchers whitethorn request to chopped down the size of their operations.

“Honestly, I americium not definite however I’m going to relationship for those workers and inactive wage the bills keeping up with those caller rules,” Cameron said. “What I privation happened was that we came up with a solution to rise each boats that wage workers amended wages and assistance farmers person amended prices for their products truthful they tin spend to wage those higher wages.”

James Henderson, a rancher and vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, is hoping for national betterment to let for flexibility of H2A visa workers.

“A batch of H2A workers privation to travel and get arsenic galore hours they perchance tin and instrumentality to their location state and enactment their household done that,” Henderson said. “We are precise acrophobic that those workers are going to spell states similar Florida, Georgia oregon Alabama alternatively of coming to Colorado due to the fact that of the constricted hours. Things that could beryllium done to equilibrium this retired is simply a national hole successful H2A betterment and allowing those workers to person a small spot much flexibility. That would support Colorado competitive.”