Are farm workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?
Partially. Farmworkers are excluded from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. This means that unlike almost all other workers in this country, farmworkers do not have the right to overtime pay after working more than 40 hours in a week. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not limit either the number of hours in a day or the number of days in a week that an employer may require an employee to work, as long as the employee is at least 16 years old. While it requires that overtime be paid at time and a half to covered employees, all agricultural workers are explicitly exempt from coverage and therefore are not entitled to overtime pay. The DOL explains, “Employees who are employed in agriculture as that term is defined in the Act are exempt from the overtime pay provisions. They do not have to be paid time and one half their regular rates of pay for hours worked in excess of forty per week.” (From DOL Fact Sheet #12: Agricultural Employers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)) Agricult
