S. 385 – Fairness for Farm Workers Act

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Updated April 14, 2026 at 1:28 AM UTC

The Fairness for Farm Workers Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to give agricultural workers the same overtime protections that other workers have. It creates a schedule that gradually lowers the weekly hour limit before overtime must be paid, with larger farms required to comply sooner than very small farms. The bill also removes several long‑standing exemptions that have kept many farm workers out of overtime coverage and aligns other farm‑worker protection laws with the new rules.

Key Provisions

Sets new overtime rules for farm workers: employers with more than 25 employees must pay overtime after 55 hours per week starting 2021, dropping to 50 hours in 2022, 45 hours in 2023, and 40 hours in 2024; employers with 25 or fewer employees get the same schedule but delayed by three years, beginning in 2024.
Repeals several existing exemptions that keep many farm workers out of overtime coverage, including family‑member exemptions and other specific exemption paragraphs.
Changes the definition of which farms are covered by tying it to the number of “man‑days” of agricultural labor used in the prior year (500 man‑days threshold).
Updates the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to use the same 500‑man‑day threshold for coverage.
Sets phased effective dates: most changes apply to larger farms on Jan. 1, 2024 (or 2021 for one exemption repeal) and to smaller farms on Jan. 1, 2027 (or 2024 for the exemption repeal).

Legislative Activity

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SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

February 7, 2019

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

February 7, 2019

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

February 7, 2019

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued February 7, 2019

II

116th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 385

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 7, 2019

Ms. Harris (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Warren, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Udall) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide increased labor law protections for agricultural workers, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Fairness for Farm Workers Act.

2.

Redressing discrimination against agricultural workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

(a)

Ending discrimination with respect to overtime hours requirements

Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:

(3)

(A)

Except as provided in subparagraph (C), beginning on January 1, 2021, no employer shall employ any employee employed in agriculture (who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce) for a workweek that is longer than the hours specified under subparagraph (B), unless such employee receives compensation for employment in excess of the hours specified in such subparagraph at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the employee is employed.

(B)

The hours specified in this subparagraph are, subject to subparagraph (C), as follows:

(i)

Beginning on January 1, 2021, fifty-five hours in any workweek.

(ii)

Beginning on January 1, 2022, fifty hours in any workweek.

(iii)

Beginning on January 1, 2023, forty-five hours in any workweek.

(iv)

Beginning on January 1, 2024, forty hours in any workweek.

(C)

With respect to any employer that employs 25 or fewer employees—

(i)

the requirement under subparagraph (A) shall begin on January 1, 2024; and

(ii)

the hours specified under subparagraph (B) shall apply as follows:

(I)

The number of hours specified under subparagraph (B)(i) shall begin on January 1, 2024.

(II)

The number of hours specified under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall begin on January 1, 2025.

(III)

The number of hours specified under subparagraph (B)(iii) shall begin on January 1, 2026.

(IV)

The number of hours specified under subparagraph (B)(iv) shall begin on January 1, 2027.

; and

(2)

by repealing subsection (m).

(b)

Removing certain exemptions for agricultural work

Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a)(6), by striking (A) and all that follows through the semicolon and inserting if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the employer’s immediate family;;

(2)

in subsection (b), by repealing paragraphs (12) through (16); and

(3)

by striking subsections (h) through (j).

(c)

Effective dates

The amendments made by—

(1)

subsections (a)(2), (b)(1), (b)(3), and (d) shall take effect—

(A)

with respect to an employer that employs more than 25 employees, on January 1, 2024; and

(B)

with respect to an employer that employs 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 2027; and

(2)

subsection (b)(2) shall take effect—

(A)

with respect to an employer that employs more than 25 employees, on January 1, 2021; and

(B)

with respect to an employer that employs 25 or fewer employees, on January 1, 2024.

(d)

Conforming amendments

(1)

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Section 13(c)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)(1)(A)) is amended by striking none of the employees and all that follows through section 6(a)(5) and inserting all of the employees of which are employed in agriculture and are employed by an employer who did not, during any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar year, use more than five hundred man-days of agricultural labor (within the meaning of the exemption under subsection (a)(6)(A), as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Fairness for Farm Workers Act).

(2)

Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act

Section 4(a)(2) of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1803(a)(2)) is amended by striking for whom the man-days exemption and all that follows through the period and inserting who did not, during any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar year, use more than 500 man-days of agricultural labor (within the meaning of the exemption under section 13(a)(6)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(6)(A)), as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Fairness for Farm Workers Act)..