New Year Outlook Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. With 2019 in the rearview and 2020 laid out in front of us, it’s time to take a look at the high and lows, and things to look forward to.Washington Farm Bureau CEO John Stuhlmiller thinks one of the biggest challenges facing farmers last year and into this deals with agriculture wages and the overtime rule being decided by the state Supreme Court …
STUHLMILLER … “And so that’s in the hands of the court right now, and so we await a decision, but that was, in many respects, I would say, a lowlight in that the risk to agriculture of the potential of a retroactive wage increase, you know, paying back wages plus going forward with overtime, that’s a significant issue for agriculture to have to face.”
Stuhlmiller says their lawyers are cautiously optimistic …
STUHLMILLER … “The hope is that the court will not reverse a lot of the history of findings by the court and it will stick to some of the tried and true methods out there which would lend itself to not rewriting a statute or part of the constitution as the case may be.”
And, Stuhlmiller says the overtime rules were not a mistake or oversight …
STUHLMILLER … “The overtime exemption was lawfully put into place and has been in place for decades and so hopefully they stick with that and say that it’s not, it doesn’t disappear and that those wages are doing it in a retroactive sense. And, we’re hopeful that’s the case, but again, it’s a flip of the coin. It’s nine votes at stake in it.”
Listen tomorrow for Stuhlmiller’s take on a positive note.