Bill Text: NY S08944 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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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

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                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.
                                                                   LBD17202-01-0
        S. 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 days
        S. 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.