Alternative workweek schedule: agricultural employees.

Existing law authorizes an employer to propose a regularly scheduled alternative workweek that authorizes work by the affected employees for no longer than 10 hours per day within a 40-hour workweek without the payment to the affected employees of an overtime rate of compensation and that will be adopted if it receives approval in a secret ballot election by at least 23 of affected employees in a work unit. Existing law establishes a time and 12 overtime rate for affected employees for any work in excess of the regularly scheduled hours established by the alternative workweek agreement and for any work in excess of 40 hours per week. Existing law establishes a minimum double-time rate for work in excess of 12 hours per day and for any work in excess of 8 hours on those days worked beyond the regularly scheduled workdays established by the alternative workweek agreement. Other existing law relating only to agricultural employees phases in overtime requirements according to a prescribed schedule over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2022, existing law prohibits any person employed in an agricultural occupation from being employed more than 8 hours in any one workday or working in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek, unless the employee receives one and 12 times that employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 8 hours in any workday or over 40 hours in any workweek. Beginning January 1, 2022, existing law requires any work performed by a person employed in an agricultural occupation in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at a minimum double-time rate. Under existing law, employers who employ 25 or fewer employees have an additional 3 years to comply with the phasing in of these overtime requirements. This bill would require, for purposes of those alternative workweek provisions, that an affected employee employed in an agricultural occupation working longer than 8 hours, but not more than 12 hours in a day, pursuant to an alternative workweek schedule, be paid an overtime rate of compensation according to the agricultural employee overtime phase-in provisions, as specified.