Since Ag Overtime was implemented in Washington a few years ago, it has been a challenge for producers to adjust. Many farmers have struggled from a budget standpoint, finding enough workers or both. In an effort to help Washington’s farm community, state Representative Tom Dent introduced HB 1597 last week, which would allow ag employers to select 12 weeks a year to employ workers for up to 50 hours a week before overtime applies.
The Moses Lake Republican acknowledged his bill may be a heavy lift for lawmakers.
“When we tie everything else in around agriculture, it may not be that heavy of a lift,” Dent said. “We may be able to move something like this forward because of how we’ve constructed this bill. You know it’s it is very contentious issue, it’s a very important issue, and we need to find a way forward.”
Will those that supported the implementation of Ag Overtime be on board with this bill? Dent said that remains to be seen.
“I do know that we’ve softened some of their stances, a little bit, they’ve looked at the unintended consequences [of the originally legislation]. You know how some of the farm producers get around it? They hire two crews instead of one and so they don’t have to pay the overtime and the agricultural workers are on board with that. But you know what, they don’t want to do that. They the issue fixed.”
Dent added the additional stress of worker shortages, high labor costs, higher input costs are starting to impact the mental health of farmers and ranchers across Washington.
Click Here to read HB 1597.
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