California Overtime Rules now apply to Agricultural workers as of 2017
You should use a time clock system that alerts you when your people are approaching it!  We sell them.

As published in Grower Talks, November 2016

This is what is going to change:

Weekly Overtime            Year
       55                            2017
       50                            2018
       45                            2019
       40                            2020

Assembly Bill 1066 will roll out new rules for overtime in 2019, lowering the current 10 hour-day threshold for overtime by half an hour each year until it reaches the standard eight-hour day by 2022.  It will also phase in a 40 hour standard workweek for the first time.  This was opposed by the California Cut Flower Commission, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and others, who contend that increases to the minimum wage would be devastating to companies and communities.

“We are extremely disappointed that this legislation was signed into law, as it will be harmful to farm employees, farmers, and the environment.  Those who work on California farmers will see reduced paychecks and have their lives disrupted as these new worker overtime rules come into play,” said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.  “California consumers will have fewer opportunities to buy California-grown farm products that are produced in the most stringent food safety, employment and environmental rules in the world.”

After the California Senate passed the bill in August, Ben Dobbe, COO and senior sales executive of Holland America Flowers in Niporno, California, said the bill could ultimately hurt agricultural employees “big time.”