Farmworkers entitled to minimum wage for some tasks, high court says
OLYMPIA – Farmworkers in Washington who are being paid a piece-work rate must be paid minimum wage for the time they spend doing other tasks, a divided state Supreme Court said Thursday.
In response to a question from a federal judge, a bare majority of the court said the state’s minimum wage law plainly requires employers to pay their adult workers at least minimum wage for the hours worked. They can’t average the amount they get from piece-work with a lesser hourly wage for other tasks so that the weekly paycheck totals the amount that would be paid under minimum wage.
“There is no exception, other statutory provision, or judicial or executive interpretation that allows employers to evade the plain language in the context presented,” Justice Mary Yu wrote in a majority opinion signed by four other justices.
The case involves a possible class-action suit in U.S. District Court between farm workers and the Dovex Fruit Co. of Wenatchee over wages and working conditions. U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza asked the state’s highest court for an interpretation of the Washington Minimum Wage Act, which is under dispute by the two sides.
Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/may/11/farm-workers-entitled-to-minimum-wage-for-some-tas/