Our View: A possible silver lining on a bad bill?

Published 6:30 am Wednesday, March 16, 2022

While we are not by any means proponents of HB 4002, the bill passed in early March that will end the agriculture overtime exemption, maybe there is a silver lining to this bill that can help farm owners and farmworkers.

Now, hear us out before you burn this editorial.

Here is the simple answer: More jobs.

The gist of the bill is that, by 2027, farmworkers are to start being paid overtime for any amount worked over 40 hours a week — something that is a commonality in the farming industry, especially during harvest time.

Here’s some quick math to show the pinch this puts on farm owners. The rural Oregon minimum wage jumps to $12.50 per hour starting in July (who knows what it will be in five years). A 40-hour work week, then, would be a gross of $500. Double that — 80 hours (which may be a underestimation during harvest) is $1,000. If overtime is to be paid on that, it raises the gross pay to $1,250.

While that may not seem like a lot at first glance, an extra $250 a week spread over your staff quickly adds up. Even with a staff of just four, that’s an extra $1,000 per week, or $4,000 per month.

That will get pricy quickly for farm owners, who are going to have to find a way to adapt — something they already are having to do in the midst of inflation, supply chain issues and drought.

Which brings it back to the above answer: More jobs.

Perhaps a (not necessarily the) solution to consider for these farms is to hire more people, especially during the peak of harvest.

In the scenario above, 40 hours could end up being worked in just three days (80 hours in six). If that is split, and more people are brought into do the work — say, on a three days on, three days off rotation, (or three on, four off) — then the amount of work could still be done. Previously, the above four employees working 80 hours are making $1,250 per week apiece, or a combined $5,000 per week.

Double the staff, but at just 40 hours, and the cost (without the overtime) drops to $4,000 per week.

Obviously, there are tradeoffs to this. Yes, more people could be able to work, but, those who had previously logged those extra hours at harvest would be hurting with less cashflow than they previously had.

There is not a perfect solution to an imperfect — check that — bad bill, and there will be consequences that the Legislature (we hope) did not intend.

And, invariably, it will fall on the backs of one of the most taken-for-granted groups in our nation — the farmers — to come up with a solution.

We are confident they will do so, and that they likely have a solution better than this.

But this could be a way out that could help other workers at the same time.

Maybe, indeed, a silver lining.

Now, are there workers out there to fill in that gap?