Farm worker advocates are sounding the alarm on overtime pay. One legal expert warns that this push could add more strain to an industry already facing major challenges.
“My thing with the overtime is it hurts the employee,” explained Shawn Packer, principal at JPH Law. “It hurts the employer, too, but it hurts the employee because you’re limiting the hours that they’re working, so that you’re not paying the overtime, so they’re actually making less money.”
Packer added that while there is a lot of advocacy surrounding the prevailing wage lawsuit, it ultimately takes money out of the pockets of farm workers.
When it comes to regulations, such as the heat rule, Packer said that it only adds to the problem.
“One of the things, especially when we started looking at the heat rule and everything else, that’s amazing to me is you’ve got these advocacy organizations that are pushing so hard to keep piece rate, but then we have these regulations that tell us to stop working. And the workers, that’s all they want to do is they want to make that piece rate.”
Bottom line: Packer says that despite all the efforts advocates make, the workers are still making less money.
RFD-TV Farm Accounting & Tax expert Roger McEowen discusses crucial legal and tax issues for farmers and ranchers to manage operational risks in this Firm to Farm blog post.
September 23, 2024 03:02 PM
·
In today’s Firm to Farm blog post, RFD-TV ag law expert Roger McEowen briefly examines several of the issues that farmers and ranchers face.
August 08, 2024 12:24 PM
·
A five-year-old in Etheridge, Tennessee, lost his life in a grain auger. His mother shares her story to ensure that other farm families do not have to endure that pain. RFD-TV’s own Tammi Arender reports.
RFD-TV Agricultural Law & Taxation expert Roger McEowen discusses the Supreme Court’s recent repeal of the Chevron agreement and other current topics in ag law.
The topics in ag law and tax are diverse. There’s never a dull moment. For now, here’s a selection of various ag law topics from RFD-TV Agricultural Law & Tax expert Roger McEowen.
With ransomware and other cybersecurity threats on the rise, the U.S. Small Business Association wants to help bolster the resources available to farmers and other rural Americans who operate small businesses.
The new approach to animal identification in the cattle industry—that’s the topic of this Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV agri-legal expert Roger McEowen with the Washburn School of Law.
