Agricultural overtime waiver

AN ACT Relating to increasing agricultural employees' access to 1
economic opportunities by allowing those employees to voluntarily 2
waive overtime requirements for up to 15 workweeks in a calendar 3
year; amending RCW 49.46.130; creating a new section; and declaring 4
an emergency. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that agricultural 7
workers have been harmed by the lack of a seasonality exception to 8
overtime pay rules. Agricultural workers across the state are earning 9
less money during peak harvest seasons because agricultural employers 10
are capping hours worked to comply with overtime limitations imposed 11
by the legislature in recent years. The purpose of this legislation 12
is to give individual agricultural workers the opportunity, at their 13
discretion, to increase their hours and compensation during peak 14
harvest seasons.15
Sec. 2. RCW 49.46.130 and 2021 c 249 s 2 are each amended to 16
read as follows: 17
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer 18
shall employ any of his or her employees for a workweek longer than 19
forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his or her 20
H-1970.1
HOUSE BILL 2052
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Mendoza, Dufault, Barnard, Chase, and Stuebe
Read first time 03/25/25. Referred to Committee on Labor & Workplace
Standards.
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employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less 1
than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he or she is 2
employed. 3
(2) This section does not apply to: 4
(a) Any person exempted pursuant to RCW 49.46.010(3). The payment 5
of compensation or provision of compensatory time off in addition to 6
a salary shall not be a factor in determining whether a person is 7
exempted under RCW 49.46.010(3)(c); 8
(b) Employees who request compensating time off in lieu of 9
overtime pay; 10
(c) Any individual employed as a seaman whether or not the seaman 11
is employed on a vessel other than an American vessel;12
(d) Seasonal employees who are employed at concessions and 13
recreational establishments at agricultural fairs, including those 14
seasonal employees employed by agricultural fairs, within the state 15
provided that the period of employment for any seasonal employee at 16
any or all agricultural fairs does not exceed fourteen working days a 17
year; 18
(e) Any individual employed as a motion picture projectionist if 19
that employee is covered by a contract or collective bargaining 20
agreement which regulates hours of work and overtime pay;21
(f) An individual employed as a truck or bus driver who is 22
subject to the provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Act (49 U.S.C. 23
Sec. 3101 et seq. and 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10101 et seq.), if the 24
compensation system under which the truck or bus driver is paid 25
includes overtime pay, reasonably equivalent to that required by this 26
subsection, for working longer than forty hours per week;27
(g) Any individual employed as an agricultural employee. This 28
exemption from subsection (1) of this section applies only until 29
December 31, 2021; 30
(h) Any industry in which federal law provides for an overtime 31
payment based on a workweek other than forty hours. However, the 32
provisions of the federal law regarding overtime payment based on a 33
workweek other than forty hours shall nevertheless apply to employees 34
covered by this section without regard to the existence of actual 35
federal jurisdiction over the industrial activity of the particular 36
employer within this state. For the purposes of this subsection, 37
"industry" means a trade, business, industry, or other activity, or 38
branch, or group thereof, in which individuals are gainfully employed 39
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(section 3 (h) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended 1
(Public Law 93-259)); 2
(i) Any hours worked by an employee of a carrier by air subject 3
to the provisions of subchapter II of the Railway Labor Act (45 4
U.S.C. Sec. 181 et seq.), when such hours are voluntarily worked by 5
the employee pursuant to a shift-trading practice under which the 6
employee has the opportunity in the same or in other workweeks to 7
reduce hours worked by voluntarily offering a shift for trade or 8
reassignment; and 9
(j) Any individual licensed under chapter 18.85 RCW unless the 10
individual is providing real estate brokerage services under a 11
written contract with a real estate firm which provides that the 12
individual is an employee. For purposes of this subsection (2)(j), 13
"real estate brokerage services" and "real estate firm" mean the same 14
as defined in RCW 18.85.011. 15
(3) No employer shall be deemed to have violated subsection (1) 16
of this section by employing any employee of a retail or service 17
establishment for a workweek in excess of the applicable workweek 18
specified in subsection (1) of this section if: 19
(a) The regular rate of pay of the employee is in excess of one 20
and one-half times the minimum hourly rate required under RCW 21
49.46.020; and 22
(b) More than half of the employee's compensation for a 23
representative period, of not less than one month, represents 24
commissions on goods or services. 25
In determining the proportion of compensation representing 26
commissions, all earnings resulting from the application of a bona 27
fide commission rate is to be deemed commissions on goods or services 28
without regard to whether the computed commissions exceed the draw or 29
guarantee. 30
(4) No employer of commissioned salespeople primarily engaged in 31
the business of selling automobiles, trucks, recreational vessels, 32
recreational vessel trailers, recreational vehicle trailers, 33
recreational campers, manufactured housing, or farm implements to 34
ultimate purchasers shall violate subsection (1) of this section with 35
respect to such commissioned salespeople if the commissioned 36
salespeople are paid the greater of: 37
(a) Compensation at the hourly rate, which may not be less than 38
the rate required under RCW 49.46.020, for each hour worked up to 39
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forty hours per week, and compensation of one and one-half times that 1
hourly rate for all hours worked over forty hours in one week; or2
(b) A straight commission, a salary plus commission, or a salary 3
plus bonus applied to gross salary. 4
(5) No public agency shall be deemed to have violated subsection 5
(1) of this section with respect to the employment of any employee in 6
fire protection activities or any employee in law enforcement 7
activities (including security personnel in correctional 8
institutions) if: (a) In a work period of twenty-eight consecutive 9
days the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate 10
exceed two hundred forty hours; or (b) in the case of such an 11
employee to whom a work period of at least seven but less than 12
twenty-eight days applies, in his or her work period the employee 13
receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate exceed a number of 14
hours which bears the same ratio to the number of consecutive days in 15
his or her work period as two hundred forty hours bears to twenty-16
eight days; compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half 17
times the regular rate at which he or she is employed.18
(6)(a) ((Beginning January 1, 2022, any agricultural employee 19
shall not be employed for more than 55 hours in any one workweek 20
unless the agricultural employee receives one and one-half times that 21
agricultural employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 22
55 in any one workweek.23
(b) Beginning January 1, 2023, any agricultural employee shall 24
not be employed for more than 48 hours in any one workweek unless the 25
agricultural employee receives one and one-half times that 26
agricultural employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 27
48 in any one workweek.28
(c) Beginning January 1, 2024)) Except as provided in (b) of this 29
subsection, any agricultural employee shall not be employed for more 30
than 40 hours in any one workweek unless the agricultural employee 31
receives one and one-half times that agricultural employee's regular 32
rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in any one workweek.33
(b)(i) An agricultural employee may waive his or her right to 34
receive overtime pay under (a) of this subsection for up to 15 35
workweeks in a calendar year. A waiver may be for no less than one 36
workweek and may otherwise be granted for intermittent or contiguous 37
workweeks so designated by the agricultural employee. During any 38
workweek in which a waiver applies, the agricultural employer must 39
compensate the agricultural employee at a rate of at least the 40
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agricultural employee's regular rate of pay, regardless of the number 1
of hours worked, and is not required to comply with the overtime pay 2
requirements under (a) of this subsection. 3
(ii) In addition to the records required to be kept under RCW 4
49.30.020, an agricultural employer is responsible for maintaining 5
records of any applicable waivers granted under this subsection.6
(7)(a) No damages, statutory or civil penalties, attorneys' fees 7
and costs, or other type of relief may be granted against an employer 8
to an agricultural or dairy employee seeking unpaid overtime due to 9
the employee's historical exclusion from overtime under subsection 10
(2)(g) of this section, as it existed on November 4, 2020.11
(b) This subsection applies to all claims, causes of actions, and 12
proceedings commenced on or after November 5, 2020, regardless of 13
when the claim or cause of action arose. To this extent, this 14
subsection applies retroactively, but in all other respects it 15
applies prospectively. 16
(c) This subsection does not apply to dairy employees entitled to 17
back pay or other relief as a result of being a member in the class 18
of plaintiffs in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy , 196 Wn.2d 19
506 (2020). 20
(8) For the purposes of this section, "agricultural employee" 21
means any individual employed: (a) On a farm, in the employ of any 22
person, in connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in 23
connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or 24
horticultural commodity, including raising, shearing, feeding, caring 25
for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and 26
furbearing animals and wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or 27
tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation, 28
management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm 29
and its tools and equipment; (b) in packing, packaging, grading, 30
storing or delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for 31
transportation to market, any agricultural or horticultural 32
commodity; or (c) (([in])) in commercial canning, commercial 33
freezing, or any other commercial processing, or with respect to 34
services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising, 35
harvesting, and processing of oysters or in connection with any 36
agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a 37
terminal market for distribution for consumption. An agricultural 38
employee does not include a dairy employee. 39
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(9) For the purposes of this section, "dairy employee" includes 1
any employee engaged in dairy cattle and milk production activities 2
described in code 112120 of the North American industry 3
classification system. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate 5
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 6
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 7
effect immediately.8
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