SALEM—The Oregon Senate rejected a last-ditch effort to exclude farms from a bill that requires employers to provide workers with paid sick leave.
Senate Bill 454 was approved by the Senate 17-13 on June 10 despite requests by several lawmakers to send the proposal back to committee for an amendment to exempt agricultural businesses.
“I don’t care what anybody else says in this room, you’re going to hurt ag,” said Sen. Chuck Thomsen, R-Hood River, who raises pears.
The bill was approved largely along partisan lines, with all Democrats except Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, voting in favor and all Republicans voting against it.
Under the legislation, employers with more than 10 workers must provide them with 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Those with fewer workers must provide unpaid sick leave.
During a floor debate on SB 454, Thomsen argued that farmers should be exempted because many hire large numbers of workers to pick perishable crops, with prices dictated by global supply and demand.
“We don’t have the ability to recoup costs,” he said.
The bill could theoretically allow an entire picking crew to take paid sick leave at once, leaving the farmer with an unharvested crop while they go harvest for another grower, Thomsen said.
Agricultural employers say the bill is a “job killer and a business killer,” not only for fruit growers but also cattle and wheat producers who have year-round workers, said Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day.
Opponents of SB 454 claim that it amounts to an unfunded mandate that will cost Oregon companies about $1 billion a year.
“This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said Ferrioli.
Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said the bill has undergone multiple changes to accommodate employers and he denied that agriculture’s unique needs were ignored.
“When someone came to us with a problem, we tried to solve it whenever possible,” he said.
Specifically, workers can only use their paid sick leave after completing a 90-day probation period, so many seasonal workers will never even qualify for the benefit, Dembrow said.
It’s also unlikely that workers will pretend to be sick and forgo picking fruit at piece rate wages, which are usually higher than the minimum wage they’d get under paid sick leave, he said.
The bill is necessary because higher-paid workers in Oregon generally get paid sick leave but most low-wage workers do not, Dembrow said.
Such workers risk getting fired or losing significant income by not showing up for work when ill, he said. “This is one of the most striking examples of economic inequity that we face.”
The 90-day probation period won’t actually stop many farm workers from qualifying for paid sick leave, since growers plant multiple varieties of crops, such as blueberries, to mature over a longer period of time, said Roger Beyer, lobbyist for the Oregon Blueberry Commission and other farm groups.
“Their picking season lasts 100 days or more,” he said.
Also, workers who return to a farm to prune or perform other duties within 180 days will continue to accrue time toward the 90 day probation period, said Jenny Dresler, government affairs associate at the Oregon Farm Bureau.
Growers will need to contend with a complicated formula to determine whether they average 10 workers per year, and track workers who leave and return to the farm, she said.
While SB 454 has yet to be approved by the House, it’s proponents likely don’t expect significant obstacles, Dresler said. “I doubt they would be moving forward if they didn’t think the votes were there.”
Source: www.capitalpress.com