The New Year Means Updates to Minimum Wages and Ag Overtime

The New Year Means Updates to Minimum Wages and Ag Overtime

Patrick Cavanaugh
Patrick Cavanaugh
Employers with 26 or more employees, the new minimum wage to $14 an hour. If there's under 25 employees, the new age is $13 an hour. And nut processors generally have more than 25 employees. Roger Isom is president and CEO of the Fresno-based Western Agricultural Processors Association with treenut processors as this membership

“Another year. And another increase until we get to $15.00 So this year, with more than 25 employees, you're going to $14 and 25 or less, you're at the 13. So it's another increase,” noted Isom

And Isom said all the other fees on top of that from Sacramento always keep going up.

“It's not only a fact of being non-competitive it's that we can't pass along that cost. So, you know, we've got guys that have moved their processing operations. We've got an Almond processor, that's moved to Arizona. We've got an almond butter operation, that's in Lubbock, Texas now,” explained Isom.

Isom asked the Lubbock operation what prompted them to move to Lubbock, Texas. “’And he said, Roger, ‘he minimum wage is $7.25 an hour versus $14.00 in California.’”

“You know? And granted, not everybody there starts off at $7.25, but even their supervisors are making less than what minimum wage is off here. So, it's like, why do business here? They can more than make up for the transportation. And guess what? He’s in Texas. He’s in the center of the country, He can ship his product to anywhere I want. And so, yeah, it starts to make sense when you start getting the, are the rates that we're having to pay out here.

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