Agricultural overtime rules

Definition

Agricultural overtime rules decide when a farm employee must be paid an overtime premium, usually 1.5 times the regular rate of pay, for hours beyond a threshold. Dairy work (milking, feeding, animal care, raising replacements) is agriculture under federal law, so dairies are governed by the farm exemptions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) plus any state rule that is more generous to the worker. Where federal and state law both apply, the employer must meet whichever gives the worker more.

Two federal exemptions, kept distinct

FLSA §13(b)(12): overtime exemption. Employees employed in agriculture are exempt from federal overtime, at any farm size. They are still covered by federal minimum wage unless §13(a)(6) also applies. This is why, federally, a dairy employee working 60 hours a week gets no overtime premium.
FLSA §13(a)(6): the small-farm “500 man-day” exemption. An agricultural employer that did not use more than 500 man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year is exempt from federal minimum wage (and overtime) for its agricultural employees. A man-day is any day on which an employee does at least one hour of agricultural work. 500 man-days a quarter is roughly seven full-time workers. §13(a)(6) also covers certain other groups: the employer’s parent, spouse, child or other immediate family; some piece-rate hand-harvest workers (local commuters who worked in agriculture under 13 weeks the year before, and some workers 16 or under); and employees principally engaged in range production of livestock. (29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(6) and § 203(u), and DOL Fact Sheet #12, as of Nov 2026.)

The first is about overtime only and applies to every farm; the second is about minimum wage and applies only to small farms. Mixing them up is a common error.

State agricultural overtime

A growing number of states require overtime for farm workers, usually with a phase-in: the weekly threshold steps down over several years, sometimes to 40 hours. Some states also have daily thresholds, double time and seventh-consecutive-day rules. Thresholds and dates are in the table under Typical range.

How overtime is computed

Workweek, not pay period. Overtime is computed per fixed, recurring workweek of 168 consecutive hours (7 × 24 h) that the employer sets. Hours cannot be averaged across two weeks of a biweekly pay period.
Order of computation where daily rules exist (e.g. California):
1. daily overtime and double time for hours over the daily limits;
2. seventh-consecutive-day premiums;
3. weekly overtime on the remaining straight-time hours over the weekly threshold.
Hours already paid at a premium are not counted again toward the weekly threshold (no pyramiding).
Regular rate. The premium is 0.5 × (or, for double time, 1.0 ×) the regular rate on top of straight time already paid. The regular rate includes hourly pay, piece-rate earnings and non-discretionary bonuses, divided by hours worked; pay for time not worked is excluded.
Hours worked are clocked work hours, not paid hours. Paid holiday and PTO hours generally don’t count toward an overtime threshold unless state law or company policy says so.

Federally, a daily overtime premium can be credited toward weekly overtime owed (29 CFR 778.202), and pay for vacation, holiday or sick time is not pay for hours of employment and is left out of the regular rate (29 CFR 778.218).

How to pull it in DC305

Not applicable. Overtime is computed from hours worked in the payroll or timekeeping system, by employee and workweek. DC305 holds no hours or pay data. DC305 events can supply piece counts for piece-rate pay (see piece-rate pay), which feed the regular rate.

Typical range

Herd context: US dairies with hired non-family employees, any breed or housing. Thresholds are by state and are stated as of 2026-11; they change often.

State	Weekly threshold (as of 2026-11)	Daily / other rules	Phase-in
Federal (FLSA)	None for ag employees (§13(b)(12))	None	—
California	40 h	OT over 8 h/day; double time over 12 h/day; 7th consecutive day in the workweek: 1.5× first 8 h, 2× over 8 h (any employer size)	26+ employees: 9.5/55 (2019), 9/50 (2020), 8.5/45 (2021), 8/40 and double time from 2022-01-01. 25 or fewer: 9.5/55 (2022), 9/50 (2023), 8.5/45 (2024), 8/40 and double time from 2025-01-01
Washington	40 h	None (workweek only)	55 h (2022), 48 h (2023), 40 h from 2024-01-01; dairy workers at 40 h from 2020-11-05 (Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Brothers Dairy, 196 Wn.2d 506)
Oregon	48 h	No daily OT for farm work (daily rules apply to some processing)	55 h (2023–2024), 48 h (2025–2026), 40 h from 2027-01-01
New York	52 h	At least 24 consecutive hours of rest each calendar week; voluntary work on that day paid at 1.5× (Labor Law § 161)	60 h (2020), 56 h (2024), 52 h (2026), 48 h (2028), 44 h (2030), 40 h (2032), each on 1 Jan (12 NYCRR 190-2.4)
Minnesota	48 h	Salaried farm workers excluded in some cases (Minn. Stat. § 177.23 subd. 7)	Fixed; the general 48 h rule (§ 177.25) covers ag employees
Maryland	60 h	Applies to farm workers exempt from federal OT	Fixed (§ 3-420(c))
Colorado	48 h	Highly seasonal employers: 56 h in up to 22 designated peak weeks, 48 h otherwise; range workers paid the PAY CALC minimum salary excluded; extra pay over 15 h/day	60 h (2022-11-01 to 2023-12-31); 54 h in 2024 (56 h small employers); 48 h from 2025-01-01; 56 h for all from 2027-01-01 (SB26-121)
Hawaii	40 h	Ag employers with fewer than 20 employees in a workweek are excluded; qualifying ag/first-stage processing employers may pick up to 20 workweeks (year from 1 July) with OT only over 48 h	Fixed (HRS §§ 387-1, 387-3(e))
Others	None found	—	No other state ag overtime law found as of Nov 2026

Table checked in Nov 2026 against CA DIR, WA L&I, Oregon BOLI, NY DOL, the Minnesota, Maryland and Hawaii statutes, the Colorado COMPS Order and the Colorado General Assembly (SB26-121). Colorado and Oregon both change on 2027-01-01.

Overtime premium cost: a worker on a 60 h week at a 40 h threshold has 20 premium hours, adding 0.5 × 20 = 10 straight-time-equivalent hours, about a 17% increase in weekly pay over straight time (70 ÷ 60).
Federal minimum wage is $7.25/h (29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C), unchanged as of Nov 2026) and applies to ag employees not exempt under §13(a)(6). State minimum wages are often higher and also apply; take the current rate from the state labor agency.

Common mistakes

This page is not legal advice. Overtime thresholds, phase-in dates and exemptions change often and depend on facts (employer size, job duties, seasonal status). Confirm with employment counsel or the state labor agency before setting pay policy.
Confusing §13(b)(12) with §13(a)(6). The first removes federal overtime for all ag employees; the second removes federal minimum wage for small farms only.
Assuming the federal exemption settles it. State rules override when they are more favorable to the worker.
Computing OT per pay period. A 50 h week followed by a 30 h week is 10 OT hours at a 40 h threshold, not zero because the two-week total is 80 h.
Wrong order of daily and weekly OT, or counting the same hours twice.
Leaving piece-rate earnings and bonuses out of the regular rate. The OT premium must be computed on the full regular rate.
Using a stale threshold. Phase-ins step down on fixed dates, often 1 January; payroll settings must change in the right workweek.
Applying the small-employer schedule wrongly. Employer size is usually measured across all employees of the employer (and sometimes related entities), not one site.
Misclassifying non-farm work. Employees who work in a processing plant, retail store or trucking business attached to the dairy may not be “agricultural” and can fall under general overtime rules.
Treating H-2A as a dairy labor source. H-2A is for temporary or seasonal agricultural work: the need must be tied to a time of year or, except in extraordinary circumstances, last no longer than 1 year (20 CFR 655.103(d)). Year-round dairy jobs generally don’t qualify. Where H-2A workers are used, the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) published by DOL applies.
Forgetting ag payroll tax filings. Employers who pay wages to farmworkers file IRS Form 943, the annual return for agricultural employees, rather than the quarterly Form 941 for those wages.