WG Publishes Survey Results of Economic Impact of Minimum Wage, Ag Overtime Laws

Yesterday, Western Growers published its survey indicating that higher minimum wage and agricultural overtime costs will harm the very people that supporters of these measures claimed to be helping: farmworkers.

The findings in this report come from an electronic survey of Western Growers’ regular members conducted by the association between October 31st and November 11th, 2016. 148 Western Growers members responded to the survey. Key findings include:

• More than 80% of farms will cut back working hours for farmworkers
• On average, farmworkers will lose 15 hours of work and $180 in income per week
• Many farmworker jobs will be eliminated as farms will look for ways to reduce the need for labor
• Fewer than 10% of farms will be able to pass the added costs of minimum wage and agricultural overtime along to buyers
• Nearly one-third of farms plan to reduce benefits offered to their employees
• 60% of farms with plans to expand operations in California will now shift their expansion plans to other states and countries

Full survey results are available here. A downloadable infographic of the results is below. 

For questions, contact Cory Lunde at (949) 885-2264.