Minimum Wage for Agricultural Workers

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) does require that most agricultural workers receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. However, specific exemptions to the minimum wage requirement include employers who did not use more than 500 “man-days” of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year. Additionally, agricultural employees who are the employer’s immediate family, employees primarily engaged in the range production of livestock, and certain hand harvest laborers are exempt from the minimum wage requirements.

Individual states have the power to enact their own minimum wage requirements as long as it meets the minimum requirements of the FLSA. States can enact more inclusive minimum wage laws but not more restrictive. Most states that have set their own minimum wage include agricultural workers. However, some do not include agricultural workers. In those instances, the agricultural workers who meet the FLSA requirements must still be paid at least the federal minimum wage.

Of the states that include agricultural workers in their minimum wage laws, many follow the FLSA framework, including all of the exemptions to the federal minimum wage. This means that in many states, there are several exemptions for agricultural workers that make them ineligible for the state minimum wage. For example, one of the exemptions that many states have is the 500 “man-days” as discussed above. Another exemption from the state minimum wage includes hand harvest laborers who commute from their permanent residence daily, paid on a piece-rate basis in traditionally piece-rated jobs, and who were employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year. There are also exemptions for immediate family members of the employer and agricultural workers primarily involved in livestock production. However, each state has its own unique minimum wage law requirements, and the exemptions differ from state to state.

The table below shows the minimum wages set by each state and whether agricultural workers are included. This compilation is current through January 2022.

 

State	Relevant Provisions	State Minimum Wage Per Hour	Agricultural Workers Included in State Minimum Wage
Alabama	No state minimum wage law – Subject to Federal minimum wage	—–	—–
Alaska	AS § 23.10.065 AS § 23.10.055(a)(1)	$10.34	No
Arizona	A.R.S. § 23-363	$12.80	Yes
Arkansas	Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-210 Ark. Code Ann. §§ 11-4-203(3)(F), (H), (I) & (J)	$11.00	Yes*
California	Cal. Labor Code § 1182.12	26 or more employees: $15.00 25 or fewer employees: $14.00 (increases to $15.00 in 2021)	Yes
Colorado	C.R.S.A. § 8-6-101.5 Colo. Const. Art. XVIII, Section 15	$12.56	Yes
Connecticut	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-58(i)	$13.00 (increasing to $14.00 effective July 1, 2022)	Yes
Delaware	19 Del. C. § 902 19 Del. C. § 901	$10.50	No
Florida	Fla. Stat. § 448.110	$10.00	Yes*
Georgia	O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3	$5.15 (the federal minimum wage rate applies to most employers)	No
Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 387-2 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 387-1	$10.10	Yes*
Idaho	Idaho Code Ann. § 44-1502 Idaho Code Ann. § 44-1504(7)	$7.25	Yes*
Illinois	820 ILCS 105/4 820 ILCS 105/3(d)(2)	$12.00	Yes*
Indiana	Ind. Code § 22-2-2-4(c) Ind. Code § 22-2-2-3(m)	$7.25	No
Iowa	IA Code § 91D.1	$7.25	Yes*
Kansas	K.S.A. § 44-1203 K.S.A. § 44-1202(e)(1)	$7.25	No
Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 337.275 Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 337.010(2)(a)(1)	$7.25	No
Louisiana	No state minimum wage law – Subject to Federal minimum wage	—–	—–
Maine	26 M.R.S. § 664(1) 26 M.R.S. § 663(3)(A) 26 M.R.S. § 1043(1)	$12.75	No (unless employed on or for a farm with more than 300,000 laying birds)
Maryland	Md. Labor and Employment Code Ann. § 3-413 Md. Labor and Employment Code Ann. § 3-403	$12.50	Yes*
Massachusetts	Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 151, § 2A Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 151, § 1	$14.25	No, but the state has set an $8.00 minimum wage for agriculture workers
Michigan	Mich. Comp. Laws § 408.934 Mich. Comp. Laws § 408.940(4)	$10.10	Yes*
Minnesota	Minn. Stat. § 177.24, subd. 1 Minn. Stat. § 177.23, subd. 7(1) – (4)	For large employers: $10.33 For all others: $8.42	Yes*
Mississippi	No state minimum wage law – Subject to Federal minimum wage	—–	—–
Missouri	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.507	$11.15	Yes*
Montana	Mont. Code Ann. § 39-3-404 Mont. Code Ann. § 39-3-409	$9.20	Yes*
Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 48-1203 Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 48-1202(3)(a)	$9.00	No
Nevada	Nev. Rev. Stat. § 608.250	If the employer offers health benefits: $9.50 If the employer does not offer health benefits: $10.50	Yes
New Hampshire	N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 279:21	$7.25	No
New Jersey	N.J. Stat. § 34:11-56a4 N.J. Stat. § 34:11-56a4(d)(1)	$13.00	No, but the state has set an agricultural minimum wage of $10.90
New Mexico	N.M. Stat. Ann. § 50-4-22 N.M. Stat. Ann. § 50-4-21	$11.50	Yes*
New York	N.Y. Lab. Law § 652(1) N.Y. Lab. Law § 673	Long Island, Westchester, & NYC: $15.00 Remainder of state: $13.20	Yes
North Carolina	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-25.3(a) N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-25.14(a)	$6.15 or the federal minimum wage, whichever is higher	No
North Dakota	N.D. Cent. Code § 34-06-22	$7.25	Yes
Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.02 Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.14(B) Ohio Constitution Article II, § 34a	Non-tipped employees: $9.30 Tipped employees: $4.65 plus tips	Yes*
Oklahoma	40 Okla. St. § 197.2 40 Okla. St. § 197.4(e)(1)	$7.25	No
Oregon	Or. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 653.025 Or. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 653.020(1)	$12.75 (increases to $13.50 on July 1, 2022)	Yes*
Pennsylvania	34 Pa. Code § 231.21 43 P.S. § 333.104(a)-(a.1) 43 P.S. § 333.105(a) 43 P.S. § 1301.201	$7.25	No, but the Pennsylvania Seasonal Farm Labor Act requires that seasonal farm workers are paid at least the minimum wage
Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-12-3 R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-12-4.3(9)	$12.25	No
South Carolina	No state minimum wage law – Subject to Federal minimum wage	—–	—–
South Dakota	S.D. Codified Laws § 60-11-3.2	$9.95	Yes
Tennessee	No state minimum wage law – Subject to Federal minimum wage	—–	—–
Texas	Tex. Lab. Code § 62.051 Tex. Lab. Code § 62.160	$7.25	Yes*
Utah	Utah Code Ann. § 34-40-103 Utah Code Ann. § 34-40-104	$7.25	Yes*
Vermont	21 V.S.A. § 383(2)(A) 21 V.S.A. § 384(a)	$12.55	No
Virginia	Va. Code Ann. § 40.1-28.10 Va. Code Ann. § 40.1-28.9(A)(1)	$11.00	No
Washington	WASH. REV. CODE ANN. § 49.46.020(1) WASH. REV. CODE ANN. § 49.46.010(3)(a)	$14.49	Yes*
West Virginia	W. Va. Code § 21-5C-2(a) W. Va. Code § 21-5C-1(f)(11)	$8.75	No
Wisconsin	Wis. Stat. Ann. § 104.035(1) Wis. Stat. Ann. § 104.035(4)	$7.25	Agricultural employees’ minimum wage is $7.25 per hour
Wyoming	Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-4-202 Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-4-201(a)(iv)(A)	$5.15 (the federal minimum wage rate applies to most employers)	No

 

* With exceptions