N.Y. Labor Law § 674-a: Farm laborers wage board

§ 674-a. Farm laborers wage board. 1. Wage board. The commissioner

shall hereby convene a farm laborers wage board. The wage board shall be

comprised of three members: one representative of the farm bureau, one

representative of the New York State AFL-CIO and one member appointed by

the commissioner, who shall be selected from the general public and

designated as chairperson. The wage board shall hold its first hearing

no later than March first, two thousand twenty. The members of the board

shall not receive a salary or other compensation, but shall be paid

actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance

of their duties.

2. Organization. Two-thirds of the members of the board shall

constitute a quorum. The chairperson may from time to time formulate

rules governing the manner in which the wage board shall function and

perform its duties under this article.

3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings.

The board may also consult with agricultural employers and farm

laborers, and their respective representatives, in the occupation or

occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the

commissioner and the commissioner of agriculture and markets, as it

shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths and

to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and

the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to any

matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by the

chairperson of the board and shall be served and have the same effect as

if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power to cause

depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state to be

taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil actions in

the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law or

statutory rules of procedure or evidence.

4. Public hearings. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the

wage board, the board shall conduct public hearings. The wage board

shall only meet within the state and must hold at least three hearings

at which the public will be afforded an opportunity to provide comments.

At least one Spanish language interpreter shall be present at each

public hearing to interpret oral testimony delivered in Spanish. Where a

witness reveals the need for an interpreter in a language other than

Spanish, to the extent practicable, an interpreter in that language

shall be provided. Any materials advertising such hearings shall be

bilingual in English and Spanish. Any written materials disbursed at the

hearing or subsequent to the hearing, including written testimony and

hearing transcripts, shall be available in English, Spanish, and, to the

extent practicable, any other language upon request.

5. Report. The wage board shall make a report to the governor and the

legislature, including its recommendations as to overtime work for farm

laborers. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted

only after a vote of not less than a majority of all its members in

support of such report and recommendations. Such report shall be

submitted no later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty. The

overtime rates recommended by the wage board shall not be in excess of

sixty hours, and the wage board shall specifically consider the extent

to which overtime hours can be lowered below such amount set in law, and

may provide for a series of successively lower overtime work thresholds

and phase-in dates as part of its determinations.

6. The wage board shall consider existing overtime rates in similarly

situated industries in New York state. Nothing contained in the wage

board's report or recommendations shall diminish or limit any rights,

protections, benefits or entitlements currently available to any farm

laborer.

7. The commissioner shall comply with section six hundred fifty-six of

this chapter upon receipt of the wage board's recommendations. The

commissioner may reconvene the same wage board or appoint a new wage

board in compliance with section six hundred fifty-nine of this chapter.