The New York Farmworker: Hours, Wages & Injuries

Margaret Gray - Nina Donaldson - Kelly Miller

Executive Summary

This report is based on 530 surveys with New York State farmworkers on more than one hundred farms. This is the largest number of the state’s migrant, seasonal, and yearround farmworkers to participate in a single survey.¹ The goal of the survey was to collect data about farmworkers’ on-the-job injuries, compensation for lost worktime, working hours, and wages. This survey also sought to evaluate the implementation of the overtime provision of New York’s 2019 Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLPA).

Historically, farmworker voices have been absent in public discussions of New York farmworker policy. The state’s farmworkers are generally not citizens—they are undocumented and guestworkers—so they have good reasons to hesitate before speaking up about problems related to their workplaces, particularly if their housing is tied to their jobs. Many farmworkers fear that their employer may retaliate against them by cutting their hours, firing them, illegally evicting them, or calling immigration authorities.² This report foregrounds farmworkers’ experiences and opinions to help mitigate the absence of their voices in policy debates about their working conditions and wellbeing.