Guide Meridian Road between Bellingham and Lynden in Whatcom County. The roadway runs through an area with agricultural land and businesses. The image is being used as a general file photo and does not depict a specific farm or worker involved in the study. File photo by Fernando Gonzalez/Bellingham Metro News
WASHINGTON STATE — A newly released survey of more than 600 Washington farmworkers is adding new information to the debate over the state’s agricultural overtime law, with many workers who said they were affected by the law reporting lower earnings.
The survey was conducted by Washington State University’s Social and Economic Sciences Research Center and funded by the Center for Latino Leadership. Researchers collected 643 responses between October 2025 and January 2026.
About 51.6% of respondents said Washington’s agricultural overtime law had affected them. Among those workers, 67.8% reported earning less money, while 6.6% said they were earning more. Some respondents reported changes in the number of hours they worked without a corresponding change in overall pay.
The survey also found that 71.4% of respondents wanted to work additional hours. About 96% of those surveyed worked in the tree-fruit industry, and year-round dairy workers were not included. Researchers conducted the survey after most seasonal foreign agricultural workers had left Washington, with the Center for Latino Leadership saying the timing was intended to place greater focus on domestic farmworkers.
Researchers cautioned that the results should not be treated as representative of every farmworker in Washington because participants were not selected through a random statewide sampling process. The findings instead provide a look at the experiences reported by the workers who participated in the survey.
Washington expanded overtime protections for agricultural workers through Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5172, which became law in 2021.
The change was phased in over several years. The overtime threshold for most agricultural workers dropped to 55 hours per week in 2022, 48 hours in 2023 and 40 hours beginning Jan. 1, 2024. Workers covered by the law must generally receive at least 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for hours worked above the applicable threshold.
The law does not prohibit agricultural employees from working more than 40 hours.
According to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries agricultural overtime FAQ, employers are allowed to determine how many hours employees are scheduled to work and may limit schedules to 40 hours to avoid overtime costs. However, if an employee works overtime, those hours must still be paid at the required overtime rate.
Comments collected through the survey reflected that distinction. Some workers said employers had reduced their schedules rather than pay overtime. Another respondent said overtime itself was beneficial, but that reduced hours had become the larger concern.
The findings have renewed calls from some agricultural organizations for lawmakers to reconsider parts of the law.
Save Family Farming, an Everson-based agricultural advocacy organization, said the results were consistent with concerns the group has raised about reduced work hours and lower overall earnings for some farmworkers.
Executive Director Ben Tindall said the organization believes the 40-hour threshold has resulted in some farms reducing hours or adding workers rather than continuing to schedule the same employees for longer weeks. Save Family Farming also argues that the changes have increased demand for additional workers, including foreign guest workers. Those statements reflect the organization’s position on the law.
Tindall called on state lawmakers to consider a higher overtime threshold and additional flexibility for seasonal agricultural work, saying workers directly affected by the policy should be included in discussions over possible changes.
Supporters of agricultural overtime have argued that farmworkers should receive the same overtime protections available to workers in most other industries. Under current Washington law, the 40-hour agricultural overtime requirement remains in effect statewide. The Legislature said when passing the 2021 law that its intent included expanding protections for agricultural workers while providing agricultural employers greater certainty under state overtime rules.
The new survey does not settle the broader debate over Washington’s overtime law, but it adds hundreds of workers’ reported experiences to a discussion that has continued since the phase-in began.
About the Author
Discover more from Bellingham Metro News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
