The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act declares the policy of the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would require the state to consider any potential cost burden to Californians as it works on achieving its climate goals, including its greenhouse gas emissions goals and standards under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular

Bill No: SB 801 Hearing Date: April 30, 2025

SUBJECT: Agricultural workers: wages, hours, and working conditions: definitions

KEY ISSUE

This bill would create an exemption for sheepherders and goat herders from overtime pay provisions established under the Phase-in Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016.

ANALYSIS

Existing law:

1. Establishes the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), and vests it with various powers and duties to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. (Labor Code §50.5)
2. Sets wage, hour, and meal break requirements, and other working conditions for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime wages to an employee who works in excess of a workday or workweek. (Labor Code §§500-556, 558)
3. Establishes specific labor protections, until July 1, 2026, for sheepherders, as defined, relating to wages, as specified below, meals, and rest periods and lodging, and other conditions of employment; and imposes civil penalties for violations of these provisions. (Labor Code §§2695.1, 2695.2)
   1. Authorizes employer to pay no less than the monthly minimum wage adopted by the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) on April 24, 2001 as an alternative to paying the minimum wage for all hours worked, for a sheepherder employed on a regularly scheduled 24-hour shift on a seven-day-a-week “on-call” basis.
   2. Defines “sheepherder” as an individual who is employed to do any of the following, including with the use of trained dogs:
      1. Tend herds of sheep grazing or browsing on range or pasture,
      2. Move sheep to and about an area assigned for grazing or browsing,
      3. Prevent sheep from wondering or becoming lost,
      4. Protect sheep against predators and the eating of poisonous plants,
      5. Assist in the lambing, docking, or shearing of sheep,
      6. Provide water or feed supplementary rations to sheep.
   3. Establishes, in addition to any other civil penalties provided by law, that any employer or any other person acting on behalf of the employer who violates these provisions are subject to a civil penalty for the initial violation, $100 for each underpaid employee, as specified, and for any subsequent violation, $250 for each underpaid employee, as specified. Specifies that affected employees must receive payments of all wages recovered.
4. Establishes specific labor protections, until July 1, 2026, for goat herders, as defined, relating to wages, as specified below, meals, and rest periods and lodging, and other conditions of employment; and imposes civil penalties for violations of these provisions. (Labor Code §§2695.3, 2695.4)
   1. Authorizes employer to pay no less than the monthly minimum wage specified in Section 4(E) of Wage Order No. 14-2001 of the IWC, as an alternative to paying the minimum wage for all hours worked, for a goat herder employed on a regularly scheduled 24-hour shift on a seven-day-a-week “on-call” basis.
   2. Defines “goat herder” as an individual who is employed to do any of the following, including with the use of trained dogs:
      1. Tend herds of goats grazing or browsing on range or pasture,
      2. Move goats to and about an area assigned for grazing or browsing,
      3. Prevents goats from wandering or becoming lost,
      4. Protect goats against predators and the earing of poisonous plants,
      5. Assist in the kidding of goats,
      6. Provide water or feed supplementary rations to goats.
   3. Requires DIR, on or before January 1, 2026, in consultation with the Employment Development Department, to issue a report, as specified, to the Legislature on employment of sheepherders and goat herders in California. In preparing the report, the agency must consult with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, sheepherder and goat herder employer and employees. The report must also cover the following information:
      1. The results of the consultations with stakeholders, including sheepherder and goat herder employers and employees.
      2. Wage, violations, including minimum wage and overtime, and compliance with the labor standards in Sections 2695.2 and 2695.4.
      3. Demographic information on the employment of sheepherders and goat herders, including the number of employers and number of employees.
      4. The use of H-2A visas in sheepherding and goat herding.
   4. Establishes, in addition to any other civil penalties provided by law, that any employer or any other person acting on behalf of the employer who violates these provisions are subject to a civil penalty for the initial violation, $100 for each underpaid employee, as specified, and for any subsequent violation, $250 for each underpaid employee, as specified. Specifies that affected employees must receive payments of all wages recovered.
5. Establishes, under the Phase in Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016, an implementation schedule for large employers and small employers that phases in overtime requirements for persons employed in an agricultural occupation, as defined. (Labor Code §§857-964)
   1. Beginning January 1, 2022, requires that any work performed by a person employed in an agricultural occupation in excess of 12 hours per day be compensated at a rate no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay.
   2. Beginning January 1, 2025, for an employer who employs 25 or fewer employees, requires that any work performed by a person employed in an agricultural occupation in excess of 12 hours per day be compensated at a rate no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay.
   3. Requires DIR to update Wage Order No. 14-2001 of the IWC to be consistent with these provisions, except in specified circumstances the wage order provides greater protections or benefits to agricultural employees.
   4. Specifies “employed in an agricultural occupation” has the same meaning as in Order No.14-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission (revised 07-2014).

This bill:

1. Creates an exemption for sheepherders and goat herders from overtime pay provisions established under the Phase in Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016.

COMMENTS

1. Background:

Overtime Pay

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which established minimum requirements for labor laws in all states. The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting employees in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. As with all provisions with the FLSA, states are allowed to exceed the requirements laid out in the federal law.

In California, the general overtime provisions are that a nonexempt employee shall not be employed more than 8 hours in any workday or more than 40 hours in any workweek, unless they receive overtime pay. In California, employees are required to be compensated for overtime at no less than:

• One and half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 8 hours, up to 12 hours, in any workday, and for the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, and
• Double the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday, and for all hours worked in excess of 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day or work in a workweek.

There are a number of exemptions from California’s overtime law, meaning that overtime law does not apply to certain employee classifications, and that overtime can be paid to certain employee classifications on different basis.

Agricultural Workers and Overtime Pay

Under the FLSA, agricultural employees are exempt from overtime pay provisions. They do not have to be paid time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week under the FLSA. California law had been silent on issue of overtime for agricultural employees until 1941. In 1941, however, the California Legislature exempted all agricultural employees from the statutory requirements of overtime, similar to the FLSA. This statutory exemption was retained when the eight-hour day was codified in 1999.

This statutory exemption, however, did not prohibit the IWC from legally promulgating overtime provisions beyond the traditional eight-hour standard of California law. Prior to the passage of AB 1066 in 2016 (as described below), the applicable wage order for agricultural employees required the payment of overtime wages when an agricultural employee works longer than 10 hours in a single day, and more than six days during any workweek.

Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders

The IWC is a commission under DIR made up of five members, appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate, responsible for setting the wages, hour of work, and working conditions of California employees. The IWC has 17 “Wage Orders.”

Wage Order 14, or IWC Order No. 14-2001, applies to agricultural employers and employees.^[1] Agricultural workers are defined in Wage Order 14 and includes employees engaged in the preparation, care, and treatment of farmland as well as the care and harvesting of crops. Agricultural workers include employees engaged in sheepherding or goat herding.

Phase in Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016

In 2016, the Governor signed AB 1066, also known as the Phase-in Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016. AB 1066 created a phase-in schedule for agricultural workers to receive overtime pay. It created two timelines:

• Larger agricultural employers (with 26 or more employees) will have to start paying their employees overtime (1.5 times the regular rate of pay) after 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week by January 1, 2022.
• Smaller agricultural employers (with 25 or fewer employees) will have to start paying their employees overtime after 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week by January 1, 2025.
• In addition, agricultural employees will begin to receive double the employee’s regular rate of pay after 12 hours in any workday beginning January 1, 2022 (for large employers) and January 1, 2025 (for small employers).

AB 1066 ensured that by January 1, 2025, all agricultural employees would receive overtime pay on the same basis as workers in most other industries.

Agricultural employees are also entitled to time and one-half pay for the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work, and double-time pay for all work performed in excess of 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work. These protections from Wage Order 14 (Agricultural Employers) continue to apply, consistent with Labor Code section 510, regardless of employer size.

Agricultural workers also became entitled to all statutory protections in the working hours and overtime requirements in Labor Code Sections 500 through 556, and Labor Code Section 558.1, from which they were previously excluded. This includes standards regarding meal periods, alternative workweek schedules, make-up work time, the one day’s rest in seven requirement, and the administrative, executive, or professional overtime exemption standard.

Sheepherders and Goat Herders

Goat and sheepherder employers have an exemption from labor law that allows them to choose not to pay herders the minimum wage for all hours worked and can instead pay no less than the monthly minimum wage.

Sheepherders working 24/7 on-call shifts have been eligible for a special monthly minimum wage as an alternative to the generally applicable state hourly minimum wage since 2001. However, goat herders first became eligible for this alternative monthly minimum wage on September 27, 2022 with AB 156 (Chapter 569, Statues of 2022).

Required overtime compensation for all agricultural employees, including herders working 24/7 shifts, is mandated by the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016.

According to DIR, as a result of AB 1066, the required minimum monthly compensation, including required overtime pay, for sheepherders and goat herders working regularly scheduled 24 hour shifts, seven days a week “on call” is a $2933.51 monthly minimum wage, plus $1,886.91 required overtime pay, for a total of $4,820.42 per month. This applies to all employers, regardless of their size, beginning on January 1, 2025.^[2]

2. Committee Comments:

This bill seeks to exempt sheepherders and goat herders from the provisions of AB 1066, and exempt them from overtime pay provisions. As noted above, when the Legislature enacted AB 1066, they created two schedules to allow agricultural employers and other small employers to gradually phase-in this requirement in order for employers to adjust and absorb additional costs. By creating a blanket exemption for sheepherders and goat herders from important labor protections, it sets a troubling precedent. The committee must consider its remit to ensure that California employers appropriately compensate their employees, including agricultural employees such as sheepherders and goat herders, for their labor.

3. Need for this bill?

According to the author:

“On January 22, 2025, KGET published an article and accompanying interview entitled, ‘Kern County Sheep and Goat Producers Share Concern on AB 1066’ (the ‘Article’). Therein, members of the Kern County Wool Growers Association (the “Association”) expressed concern regarding its members’ ability to perform wildfire mitigation through grazing as a result of Assembly Bill 1066 (‘AB 1066’). In short, AB 1066 removed an existing overtime pay exemption for agricultural workers, including sheep and goat herders. And, as a result, the Association’s members now have to pay their sheep herders an additional $800 per month per employee, on average. According to the Article, the Association says its members are ‘being forced to pay their sheep herders overtime for hours they aren’t working because on paper, sheep herders work nonstop.’”

4. Proponent Arguments

None received.

5. Opponent Arguments:

According to the California Federation of Labor Unions:

“The California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO opposes SB 801 (Hurtado), which would roll back the progress the Legislature made with AB 1066 (Gonzalez) in 2016 by exempting sheep and goat herders from the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act, ensuring that this group of workers would not receive the same overtime pay required for any other agricultural worker.

Agricultural workers labor in physically demanding jobs, often risking their health and safety to fulfill roles that most people refuse. Sheep and goat herders provide a perfect example, given that many of those employed in California are foreign workers from South American countries like Peru, who are on temporary work visas. Goat and sheep herder employers have a special exemption from labor law that allows them to choose not to pay herders the minimum wage for all hours worked and can instead pay no less than the monthly minimum wage. That means that goat and sheep herders are already exempted from important labor law protections.

When AB 1066 (Gonzalez) was signed by the Governor in 2016, it included a reasonable timetable to phase in overtime pay for farm workers until 2022, when they would be entitled to the overtime pay after 40 hours a week. It also allowed small employers, those with 25 or fewer employees, an additional 3 years to comply until 2025.

SB 801 would create a dangerous precedent by exempting sheep and goat herders from the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act, so that these essential workers would have to continue to work, often 24/7-hour shifts for less pay. Police officers, firefighters, EMT and emergency hospital workers, utility workers, and transportation workers all meet very unique needs in their professions and industries, including circumstances that require 24/7 shifts. Their employers meet those unique needs and are able to comply. Herders and all agricultural workers are essential workers, and the least we can do is uphold their right to fair pay; pay that all essential workers deserve.”

6. Prior/Related Legislation:

SB 143 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 196, Statutes of 2023) extended the sunset date, from January 1, 2024, to July 1, 2026, for labor provisions that are applicable to both sheepherders and goat herders. This bill also stated that the Labor Commissioner shall issue a report on the employment of sheepherders and goat herders in California, including minimum wage and overtime, on or before January 1, 2026, instead of on or before January 1, 2024.

AB 1099 (Dahle and Gallagher) would have deleted the sunset language for the specified goat herder provisions relating to wages, meals, and rest periods and lodging, and other conditions of employment, thereby making the provisions operative indefinitely. This bill was not set for hearing in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.

AB 156 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 569, Statutes of 2022) among other things, a) prohibited an employer from crediting meals or lodging against the minimum wage owed to sheepherders and would require every employer to provide to each sheepherder not less than the minimum monthly meal and lodging benefits required to be provided by employers of sheepherders under the provisions of the H-2A visa program, b) increased the civil penalties for violations, c) applied, until January 1, 2024, the labor provisions specifically applicable to sheepherders to be applicable to goat herders and d) prior to the sunset date, directed the Labor Commissioner to issue a report to the Legislature on wage violations, including minimum wage and overtime, affecting sheepherders and goat herders.

AB 1066 (Gonzalez, Chapter 313, Statutes of 2016), enacted the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016, which removed the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and created a schedule that would phase in overtime requirements for agricultural workers, as defined, over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill required any work performed by a person employed in an agricultural occupation in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee’s regular rate of pay. The bill provided employers who employ 25 or fewer employees an additional 3 years to comply with the phasing in of these overtime requirements. The bill required DIR to update a specified wage order for consistency with these provisions, as specified.

SUPPORT

None received.

OPPOSITION

California Federation of Labor Unions

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

United Farm Workers

-- END --

1. IWC 14-2001, https://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/WageOrders2024/IWCArticle14.pdf ↑

2. “What amount are Sheepherders owed as a result of AB 1066’s Overtime Phase-In?” Department of Industrial Relations, https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Sheepherders-owed-as-a-result-of-AB-1066s-Overtime-Phase-In.html ↑