Bill Text: NY S08944 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends provisions related to the farm laborers wage board, including how many times they must meet each year and additional considerations the wage board shall make when making a report to the governor and the legislature.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 12-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-26 - REFERRED TO RULES [S08944 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08944-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8944 IN SENATE August 26, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BORRELLO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the farm laborers wage board The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 674-a of the labor law, as added by chapter 105 of 2 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 674-a. Farm laborers wage board. 1. Wage board. The commissioner 4 shall hereby convene a farm laborers wage board. The wage board shall be 5 comprised of three members: one representative of the farm bureau, one 6 representative of the New York State AFL-CIO and one member appointed by 7 the commissioner, who shall be selected from the general public and 8 designated as chairperson. The wage board shall hold its first hearing 9 no later than March first, two thousand twenty. The members of the board 10 shall not receive a salary or other compensation, but shall be paid 11 actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance 12 of their duties. 13 2. Organization. Two-thirds of the members of the board shall consti- 14 tute a quorum. The chairperson may from time to time formulate rules 15 governing the manner in which the wage board shall function and perform 16 its duties under this article. 17 3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings. 18 The board [may] shall also consult with agricultural employers and farm 19 laborers, and their respective representatives, in the occupation or 20 occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the commis- 21 sioner and the commissioner of agriculture and markets, the New York 22 state college of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell university, as 23 it shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths 24 and to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, 25 and the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to 26 any matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by 27 the chairperson of the board and shall be served and have the same 28 effect as if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD17202-01-0S. 8944 2 1 to cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state 2 to be taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil 3 actions in the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law 4 or statutory rules of procedure or evidence. 5 4. Public hearings. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the 6 wage board, the board shall conduct public hearings. The wage board 7 shall only meet within the state and must hold at least three hearings 8 in two thousand twenty, at least two hearings each year in two thousand 9 twenty-one through two thousand twenty-three, and at least three hear- 10 ings in two thousand twenty-four, at which the public will be afforded 11 an opportunity to provide comments. At least one Spanish language 12 interpreter shall be present at each public hearing to interpret oral 13 testimony delivered in Spanish. Where a witness reveals the need for an 14 interpreter in a language other than Spanish, to the extent practicable, 15 an interpreter in that language shall be provided. Any materials adver- 16 tising such hearings shall be bilingual in English and Spanish. Any 17 written materials disbursed at the hearing or subsequent to the hearing, 18 including written testimony and hearing transcripts, shall be available 19 in English, Spanish, and, to the extent practicable, any other language 20 upon request. 21 5. Report. The wage board shall make a report to the governor and the 22 legislature, including its recommendations as to overtime work for farm 23 laborers. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted 24 only after a vote of not less than a majority of all its members in 25 support of such report and recommendations. Such report shall be submit- 26 ted no later than December thirty-first, two thousand [twenty] twenty- 27 four. The overtime rates recommended by the wage board shall not be in 28 excess of sixty hours, and the wage board shall specifically consider 29 the extent to which overtime hours can be lowered below such amount set 30 in law, and may provide for a series of successively lower overtime work 31 thresholds and phase-in dates as part of its determinations. 32 6. The wage board shall consider: 33 (a) existing overtime rates in similarly situated industries in New 34 York state; 35 (b) farm laborer wage and overtime rates in states that share a 36 geographical border with New York; 37 (c) the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the agricultural 38 community, including additional expenses borne by employers; 39 (d) the total compensation, including other benefits such as housing 40 or insurance, that farm laborers receive relative to similarly situated 41 industries; 42 (e) statistics that show various labor requirements amongst various 43 farming subindustries, including but not limited to, animal, crop, or 44 aquafarming; 45 (f) the supply and demand of farm laborers in New York; and 46 (g) the labor and employment actions taken by farm labor employers in 47 response to chapter one hundred five of the laws of two thousand nine- 48 teen, and other economic impacts. 49 7. Nothing contained in the wage board's report or recommendations 50 shall diminish or limit any rights, protections, benefits or entitle- 51 ments currently available to any farm laborer. 52 [7. The] 8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the 53 commissioner shall comply with section six hundred fifty-six of this 54 chapter no sooner than one hundred eighty daysS. 8944 3 1 upon receipt of the wage board's recommendations. The commissioner may 2 reconvene the same wage board or appoint a new wage board in compliance 3 with section six hundred fifty-nine of this chapter. 4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
