Agriculture workers exempt from overtime?Byline: Bureau of Labor & Industries Question: I grow cucumbers, and my neighbor has a strawberry strawberry, any plant of the genus Fragaria of the family Rosaceae (rose family), low herbaceous perennials with edible red fruits, native to temperate and mountainous tropical regions. The European everbearing strawberry (F. farm. This summer, we set up a roadside stand where we sold both. Each of us had one employee working, and sometimes they worked 65 hours a week. Our understanding is that because our employees are working solely in agriculture, we don't have to pay overtime. Correct? Answer: Strange as it may seem, you are probably not correct. It's true that employees who work strictly in "agriculture" are exempt from overtime requirements under Oregon and federal wage laws. But it is crucial to have an understanding of the legal definition of "agriculture" to determine which employees are truly exempt. Federal and state laws define "agriculture" as cultivating and tilling the soil; dairying dairying, business of producing, processing, and distributing milk and milk products. Ninety percent of the world's milk is obtained from cows; the remainder comes from goats, buffaloes, sheep, reindeer, yaks, and other ruminants. ; producing, cultivating, growing and harvesting any agricultural or horticultural hor·ti·cul·ture n. 1. The science or art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants. 2. The cultivation of a garden. commodities; raising livestock livestock Farm animals, with the exception of poultry. In Western countries the category encompasses primarily cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, donkeys, and mules; other animals (e.g., buffalo, oxen, or camels) may predominate in other areas. , bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry poultry, domesticated fowl kept primarily for meat and eggs; including birds of the order Galliformes, e.g., the chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, pheasant, quail, and peacock; and natatorial (swimming) birds, e.g., the duck and goose. ; and any practices performed by a farmer on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparing for market, delivering products to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market. And while it seems that your workers clearly must qualify, the law throws a couple of unexpected twists into this definition: First, your employees must be engaged in agricultural employment for 100 percent of the workweek to fall under this exemption. Unlike some other exemptions that allow for certain percentages of nonexempt work, any amount of nonagricultural work will automatically destroy the exemption in Oregon. Although it may seem a bit counterintuitive coun·ter·in·tu·i·tive adj. Contrary to what intuition or common sense would indicate: "Scientists made clear what may at first seem counterintuitive, that the capacity to be pleasant toward a fellow creature is ... , the law also states that if an agricultural employee is performing any work on products not grown by their own employer, the work is automatically not "agricultural" and the employee is thus not exempt. Remember, however, that if you have other employees that are working only on your products, they may indeed be exempt from overtime. In addition to overtime, there are some exemptions from minimum wage for certain agricultural employees. For example, Oregon hand harvesters and pruners who are paid on a piece rate basis can be exempt from minimum wage if the employer falls under the legal definition of a "small" farm. And since the Christmas season is quickly approaching, it is worth mentioning that the harvesting of Christmas trees Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. is not considered agricultural (although mistletoe mistletoe, common name for the Loranthaceae, a family of chiefly tropical hemiparasitic herbs and shrubs with leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries. They have green leaves, but they manufacture only part of the nutrients they require. probably is). For more information, visit www.oregon.gov/boli/ta or call (971) 673-0824. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion