2023 New York Laws › LAB - Labor › Article 19-A - Minimum Wage Standards and Protective Labor Practices for Farm Workers › 674-A - Farm Laborers Wage Board.

§  674-a.  Farm  laborers  wage board. 1. Wage board. The commissioner
  shall hereby convene a farm laborers wage board. The wage board shall be
  comprised of three members: one representative of the farm  bureau,  one
  representative of the New York State AFL-CIO and one member appointed by
  the  commissioner,  who  shall  be  selected from the general public and
  designated as chairperson. The wage board shall hold its  first  hearing
  no later than March first, two thousand twenty. The members of the board
  shall  not  receive  a  salary  or other compensation, but shall be paid
  actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance
  of their duties.
2.  Organization.  Two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  board  shall
  constitute  a  quorum.  The  chairperson may from time to time formulate
  rules governing the manner in which the wage board  shall  function  and
  perform its duties under this article.
3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings.
  The  board  may  also  consult  with  agricultural  employers  and  farm
  laborers, and their respective representatives,  in  the  occupation  or
  occupations  involved,  and  with  such  other  persons,  including  the
  commissioner and the commissioner of  agriculture  and  markets,  as  it
  shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths and
  to  require  by  subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and
  the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to any
  matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by  the
  chairperson of the board and shall be served and have the same effect as
  if  issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power to cause
  depositions of witnesses residing within or  without  the  state  to  be
  taken  in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil actions in
  the supreme court. The board  shall  not  be  bound  by  common  law  or
  statutory rules of procedure or evidence.
4.  Public  hearings. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the
  wage board, the board shall conduct  public  hearings.  The  wage  board
  shall  only  meet within the state and must hold at least three hearings
  at which the public will be afforded an opportunity to provide comments.
  At least one Spanish language  interpreter  shall  be  present  at  each
  public hearing to interpret oral testimony delivered in Spanish. Where a
  witness  reveals  the  need  for an interpreter in a language other than
  Spanish, to the extent practicable,  an  interpreter  in  that  language
  shall  be  provided.  Any  materials  advertising such hearings shall be
  bilingual in English and Spanish. Any written materials disbursed at the
  hearing or subsequent to the hearing, including  written  testimony  and
  hearing transcripts, shall be available in English, Spanish, and, to the
  extent practicable, any other language upon request.
5.  Report. The wage board shall make a report to the governor and the
  legislature, including its recommendations as to overtime work for  farm
  laborers. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted
  only  after  a  vote  of  not less than a majority of all its members in
  support of  such  report  and  recommendations.  Such  report  shall  be
  submitted  no later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty. The
  overtime rates recommended by the wage board shall not be in  excess  of
  sixty  hours,  and the wage board shall specifically consider the extent
  to which overtime hours can be lowered below such amount set in law, and
  may provide for a series of successively lower overtime work  thresholds
  and phase-in dates as part of its determinations.
6.  The wage board shall consider existing overtime rates in similarly
  situated industries in New York state. Nothing  contained  in  the  wage
  board's  report  or  recommendations shall diminish or limit any rights,
  protections, benefits or entitlements currently available  to  any  farm
  laborer.
7. The commissioner shall comply with section six hundred fifty-six of
  this  chapter  upon  receipt  of  the  wage board's recommendations. The
  commissioner may reconvene the same wage board or  appoint  a  new  wage
  board in compliance with section six hundred fifty-nine of this chapter.