A Cornell University study says farm owners would take steps to avoid having to pay overtime if the threshold drops from the current 60, to 40 hours.
Study co-author Professor Christopher Wolf says some farm owners said they might go as far as moving to another state or getting out of the business altogether.
Another option would be to hire more workers to spread the hours around, but farm owners fear that farm workers, particularly migrant workers, would go to other states. Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan last week to provide subsidies to farm owners to offset their increased labor costs. If the state Labor Commissioner approves the change, the overtime threshold would be reduced from 60 to 40 hours over the next ten years.
Related: Hochul proposes subsidy for farm owners, $130 million annual cost on taxpayers
Listen to my full Inside the FLX conversation with Professor Christopher Wolf below.
