A Rivalry Between Two Agricultural Overtime Bills is Settled at the Colorado Statehouse

By Rae Solomon

What began as a showdown between two competing agricultural overtime pay bills at the Colorado Capitol may end with a simple tweak to current law after an amended bipartisan bill narrowly passed in the state Senate on Wednesday.

A 2021 law fundamentally changed how Colorado farmworkers get paid by allowing overtime pay. Prior to that, agricultural work was exempt from state and federal overtime wage laws. Under the current law, which only took full effect in 2025, overtime kicks in after either 56 or 48 hours a week depending on the type of farmwork.

But lawmakers at the capitol now disagree on whether that threshold should be lower or higher. Democratic Senator Jessie Danielson sponsored the original 2021 bill and a bill this session to lower the overtime threshold to 40 -hours a week, which is standard in most industries. She said agricultural workers’ labor is no less valuable than workers in any other industry and their wages should reflect that.

“[(Agricultural employers]) have been exempt from having to pay overtime for a very long time,” Danielson said. “Of course they don’t like having to do it now. I understand that. I disagree with it.”

The Senate Business, Labor and Technology committee defeated that proposal last week. Opponents say the highly seasonal and unpredictable nature of agricultural work makes it fundamentally different from other sectors and justifies separate treatment under labor law. Farmwork, after all, can be very long and intense during a short harvest window and then dry up entirely during the off-season.