Rep. Supernaught pitches H.403 to extend minimum wage, overtime and housing inspections for farmworkers

Representative Heather Supernaught, vice chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, presented H.403, a bill that would (1) repeal the exemption of agricultural workers from state minimum wage laws, (2) make farmworkers eligible for overtime pay after 60 hours in a week at time-and-a-half, and (3) require the Agency of Agriculture to survey the adequacy, availability and safety of farm employee housing.

“This bill would ensure that farm workers are paid the state's minimum wage,” Supernaught told the House Committee on General & Housing, and she said the overtime provision would phase in later to give farm owners time to adapt. She said the bill would take effect July 1, 2025, but the overtime provision would not take effect until January 2026.

Supernaught described how the Agency of Agriculture would conduct the housing survey during a regularly scheduled inspection and submit results to the Division of Fire Safety, which could then decide whether to inspect farm employee housing under the Vermont Residential Rental Housing Health and Safety Code. She said the bill provides a compliance grace period for farms found noncompliant: corrections must be made without immediate penalty during that period.

The bill’s sponsors said the changes were informed by work of the Agricultural Labor Study Commission, which collected testimony from advocates, farm owners and workers. Supernaught said testimony indicated many agricultural workers regularly work 70–75 hours per week, which informed the decision to set the overtime threshold at 60 hours.

Committee members asked about implementation details, including how overtime would affect farm finances and whether housing provided in-kind (food, lodging) would be considered in workers’ total compensation. Supernaught acknowledged varying conditions across farms and said the survey includes questions such as whether rent is being deducted from wages; she also urged the committee to consider connecting farm owners to existing repair programs such as Champlain Housing Trust repair vouchers.

Members raised industry-specific constraints — particularly for dairy farmers, who face narrow margins because federal commodity pricing can lag production costs — and Supernaught said existing programs such as the Dairy Margin Coverage were available for producers but that labor compensation should not be substituted by unpaid cost absorption.

No formal committee vote on H.403 is recorded in the transcript; Supernaught took questions and concluded the presentation.