California Ag Labor Intelligence
October 2026 Ag Labor Report
Published October 29, 2026 • Wages, Cal/OSHA, H-2A & compliance deadlines
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♦ AB 2646 SIGNED SEPT 30 ♦ $19.75/HR FOR H-2A AND CORRESPONDING WORK JAN 1 ♦ COURT SETS DEC 30 H-2A WAGE RULE DEADLINE ♦ AB 2321 CAL/OSHA REFERRALS SIGNED ♦ STATE MINIMUM GOES TO $17.40 ON JAN 1
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This Month
The $19.75 question is settled. The H-2A wage question is not.
Last month we told you to budget 2027 two ways. You can throw one of them out: the Governor signed AB 2646 on the last day he had, and a $19.75 floor for H-2A crews and the California workers alongside them starts January 1. The federal side is still moving. A judge has given the Department of Labor until December 30 to replace the H-2A wage rule, and the back-pay clock DOL started in September is still running. Below is what is settled, what is pending, and what to do before the holidays.
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Section 1
On the Governor's Desk
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Signed September 30
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AB 2646 is law: $19.75 starts January 1
The bill sets a $19.75 per hour minimum for “approved agricultural employees,” meaning H-2A and other non-resident seasonal workers approved through the state's procedures, and for “corresponding employees”: California residents doing the same or substantially similar work for the same employer, in the same county, during the same period. Employers owe the highest applicable rate among state and federal standards, and the Labor Commissioner enforces it through the usual wage claim process.
It was signed September 30 and takes effect January 1, 2027. The rate indexes each year to the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Published summaries read the timing of the first adjustment differently, so confirm the exact January rate with your payroll provider or counsel before you print new rate notices. Farm groups opposed it to the end, and employment lawyers expect a legal challenge; as of press time none has stopped it.
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What it means if you or your labor contractor run any H-2A crew: the $19.75 reaches your domestic workers doing comparable work in the same county. Against the $17.40 statewide floor on January 1, that is about 13.5 percent more on every covered hour. A grower whose contractor brings in H-2A workers can be pulled in too, so ask your contractor now which crews and counties are covered.
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Settled: signed into law. Still open: a court challenge, and the first COLA adjustment date.
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What else got signed
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AB 2321: Cal/OSHA criminal referrals. An incident with five or more serious injuries, or a fatality, now goes straight to the district attorney, and willfully resisting or interfering with an inspector becomes a misdemeanor. You can still ask for a warrant. Signed. Effective January 1, 2027.
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AB 2227: farm labor contractor bonds and penalties. Bonds double to $50,000 / $100,000 / $150,000 by payroll tier, and civil penalties now reach licensed and unlicensed contractors: $100 per farmworker plus $100 a day the violation continues, up to $10,000. Signed September 18. Expect it in your contractor's rate.
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AB 2495: immigration-related retaliation. Expands Labor Code 1019 to any conduct tied to a worker's perceived immigration status that would discourage them from exercising their rights. Up to $10,000 per employee per violation. Signed. Effective January 1, 2027.
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SB 1149: bereavement leave for a “designated person.” Employers with five or more employees must allow it for extended or chosen family, limited to one designated person a year. Signed. Effective January 1, 2027.
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SB 947: the “No Robo Bosses” Act. A person has to check any automated system's recommendation before it is the main basis for discipline or firing. If you score crews with a tracking app, this is yours. Signed. Operative July 1, 2027.
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Section 2
Wage Watch
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$17.40
State minimum
Jan 1, 2027
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$19.75
H-2A & matching
work, Jan 1
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$72,384
Exempt salary
Jan 1, 2027
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Three floors now apply on January 1 instead of two. The statewide minimum goes to $17.40, the 2.99 percent CPI increase the Department of Finance certified in July. AB 2646 puts $19.75 on top of that for H-2A workers and the California workers doing the same job beside them. And the exempt salary test rises to $72,384, so a crew boss paid less than that, or paid hourly, is non-exempt and owed overtime. Ag overtime is unchanged and fully phased in: after 8 hours a day and 40 a week, double time past 12, with the seventh-day premium on top, for every employer regardless of size.
The January 1 payroll reset
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• Base hourly rate to $17.40
• H-2A and corresponding employees to $19.75 (or the COLA-adjusted rate), by county
• Piece-rate rest and recovery floor, and other nonproductive time, to $17.40 (higher where AB 2646 applies)
• Exempt supervisor salaries to $72,384 a year
• Reporting-time and split-shift premiums recalculated
• Wage order postings and Labor Code 2810.5 new-hire notices reprinted
• Written pay-change notices issued
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Piece rate still needs a second look. Rest and recovery periods are paid separately at the higher of the workweek average hourly rate or minimum wage, and other nonproductive time (waiting, moving between blocks, equipment moves, meetings) at no less than minimum wage. Both have to show on the stub as separate lines with hours, rate and gross. For a covered H-2A or corresponding worker, the minimum in that math becomes $19.75. Wage statement penalties run $50 for the first pay period and $100 per employee per period after.
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Section 3
The H-2A Desk
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Deadline December 30
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A judge put a date on the new H-2A wage rule
On October 2, Judge Kirk Sherriff of the Eastern District of California gave the Department of Labor until December 30 to replace the 2025 H-2A wage methodology he found unlawful in August. That date is also when his ruling against the 2025 rule takes full effect. Until then the current rates stay enforceable, and DOL has to report its progress to the court every three weeks.
DOL filed its first report on October 22. It said it is consulting USDA and the Department of Homeland Security and will try to meet the date, while still objecting to it. Reporting on the order says that if no replacement issues, rates fall back to the older, pre-2025 method. In 2025 that method produced a single California rate of $19.97. Treat that as a possibility, not a schedule.
The back-pay exposure has not gone away. DOL's September 2 notice still stands: employers who pay the current rates may owe wage adjustments, back to that date, to H-2A workers and to U.S. workers in corresponding employment, if the new rates come in higher. Nobody owes anything today, and the amount cannot be known until the new rates are out. The farmworkers' union has asked the court to make any higher rates retroactive.
Keep, every pay period: exact hours and earnings by worker, occupational classification and actual duties, and current contact information (name, address, SSN, I-94, email and phone) for every H-2A worker and every domestic worker in corresponding employment.
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California AEWR in force through December 30
CATEGORY |
RATE |
WHAT YOU PAY |
Skill Level I |
$16.59 |
$16.90, state floor |
Skill Level II |
$18.60 |
$18.60, AEWR governs |
Skill I, housing-adjusted |
$13.52 |
$16.90, state floor |
Skill II, housing-adjusted |
$15.53 |
$16.90, state floor |
Three of the four current California rates sit below the state minimum, so they never apply; only Skill Level II work at $18.60 is governed by the federal number. That changes on January 1: for H-2A workers and the California workers in corresponding jobs, AB 2646 puts the floor at $19.75, above every rate in this table. The federal rates can still matter after that, because whichever number is highest wins, and the replacement rule due December 30 could raise them.
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Filing for a spring 2027 start
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For a March 1 date of need:
• Job order to California EDD: December 16–31, 2026
• ETA-9142A to the Chicago National Processing Center: by January 15, 2027
• Housing inspection and certification: within 30 days of the start
• For an April 1 start, shift everything about a month
Your job order will be written while the federal rate is in flux and AB 2646 is about to take effect. Build it at the highest rate that could apply on the start date, and leave room to adjust.
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The program set a record of 398,258 certified positions nationally in fiscal 2025. DOL's own estimate was that the 2025 rule shifted about $2.46 billion a year from workers to employers, which is the money now in front of the judge. Remember the program is not just the wage: free housing, inbound and outbound travel with subsistence, daily transport, workers' compensation, the three-fourths guarantee, and filing fees.
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Section 4
Cal/OSHA Corner
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Deadline December 31
The Standards Board has until December 31 to adopt a permanent workplace violence prevention standard, the new Title 8 section 3343. As of this week it is still a discussion draft: Cal/OSHA held another advisory meeting on its September draft in Oakland on October 27, and we have not seen a formal rulemaking notice. Whether the Board makes its own deadline is an open question. Either way, the SB 553 obligations you have carried since July 2024 (written plan, violent incident log, annual training) stay in force, and they reach employer-provided housing.
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Heat season ran long
On October 2 Cal/OSHA put out a heat advisory with San Joaquin Valley highs up to 103°F, a reminder that the outdoor rule applies whenever it is hot, not just in summer. Shade is required above 80°F, and the agriculture high-heat procedures kick in at 95°F: observation, effective communication, and the 10-minute cool-down every two hours. The revised heat draft that would merge the indoor and outdoor rules is still a draft; comments closed September 21 and we have not seen the next version.
Get ready for the inspector, too. AB 2321 takes effect January 1, so a serious multi-injury incident or a fatality now carries a direct path to the district attorney. Before the 2027 season, walk your supervisors through what to do when Cal/OSHA arrives, and update your Injury and Illness Prevention Program and workplace violence plan. In 2025 the outdoor heat standard was the second most-cited Cal/OSHA standard in the state, behind the IIPP; late reporting of a serious injury carries a $5,000 minimum on its own, a serious violation runs up to $25,000, and a willful one up to $162,851.
Now the wet season. As the work shifts to pruning, brush and orchard floor work, plan for slick ground, fog on field roads at dawn, and equipment moves in the dark. The IIPP covers those hazards the same as it covers heat.
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Section 5
The Compliance Calendar
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DATE |
WHAT IS DUE |
Every 3 weeks |
DOL progress report to the court on the new H-2A wage rule (first filed Oct 22) |
Dec 16–31 |
H-2A job order to EDD for a March 1 date of need |
Dec 30 |
Court deadline for DOL's replacement H-2A wage methodology; the 2025 rule's vacatur takes effect |
Dec 31 |
Standards Board deadline to adopt the permanent workplace violence standard |
Jan 1 |
Minimum wage $17.40; AB 2646 $19.75 for H-2A and corresponding work; exempt salary $72,384; AB 2321, AB 2227 penalties, AB 2495 and SB 1149 take effect; postings and new-hire notices reprinted |
Jan 15 |
ETA-9142A filed for a March 1 H-2A start |
Feb 1 |
Know Your Rights notice to every employee, in their language (SB 294). Up to $500 per employee if it is missed |
Feb 1 – Apr 30 |
Cal/OSHA Form 300A summary posted at every worksite, required even with zero injuries |
Mar 2 |
Form 300A submitted electronically to federal OSHA |
May |
California pay data report due for employers with 100 or more employees, including workers through labor contractors; SB 1237 raises the penalty for a repeat miss |
Rolling |
FLC license renewal opens 90 days before expiration; file at least 60 days out. Pesticide handler and fieldworker training is annual. Heat plan and IIPP reviewed before the 2027 season |
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Section 6
Labor Market Brief
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409,600
CA farm jobs
Sept 2026
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+14,500
Farm jobs
vs Sept 2025
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5.1%
CA jobless rate
Sept 2026
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Farm jobs held up through harvest. EDD's October 16 release put California farm employment at 409,600 in September, up 1,100 from August and 14,500 from a year earlier. August was revised along the way, so the figure we ran last month has moved. The statewide unemployment rate held at 5.1 percent, and total nonfarm payrolls slipped by 9,300 for the month.
Workers' compensation. The advisory pure premium benchmark of $1.65 per $100 of payroll, up 6.6 percent, took effect September 1. That is the number to check your renewal against, along with your experience modification.
Enforcement and the workforce. AB 2495 raises the stakes on anything that could look like using a worker's immigration status against them: up to $10,000 per employee per violation starting January 1. Train supervisors before the new year, and pair it with the SB 294 Know Your Rights notice due February 1.
Automation. Two signed bills touch it. SB 947 requires a human to check automated discipline and firing decisions from July 1, 2027, and SB 951 requires layoff notices to describe any AI or automation behind them. If you track crews with an app that scores or flags people, start the inventory now.
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Section 7
Product Spotlight
Two inputs that go out on a pass we make for you
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Featured
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Holloway Gypsum
55% and 70% grades
Fall is gypsum season, and this is the pass your crew never has to make. We supply Holloway Gypsum from H.M. Holloway in Lost Hills and spread it for you, so the hours land on our equipment instead of your payroll.
• Two grades: 55% and 70%
• Calcium and sulfate sulfur in one product
• Sulfate sulfur feeds the crop and displaces sodium without acidifying
• Custom spread by B Mello
• Rate set from your soil and water test
Fit: pair it with the fall soil sample so the rate follows the numbers. Holloway Gypsum is H.M. Holloway's product; B Mello is the supplier.
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Also this month
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KMI Zeolite
Water-efficiency soil amendment
A mineral amendment we carry for water efficiency. It goes on dry, so it can ride along on a spreading pass that is already on the calendar instead of adding one.
• Applied dry with a spreading pass
• No added crew hours when it rides along
• Part of our water-efficiency lineup
• Ask us for the label and rate for your ground
Handling: read and follow the label. Call us for rates before you plan the pass.
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How they fit together
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HOLLOWAY GYPSUM |
KMI ZEOLITE |
How it goes out |
Custom spread by B Mello |
Dry, with a spreading pass |
Added crew hours |
None, we make the pass |
None when it rides along |
When |
Fall, after harvest |
With a scheduled pass |
Grades |
55% and 70% |
Ask us |
Grower experience shared here is field observation, not a performance claim. Always read and follow the label.
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Labor is the biggest line on the sheet. Make the acres earn it.
Labor runs close to 40 cents of every dollar of cash expense on a specialty crop farm. When that cost is fixed and climbing, the return has to come out of the ground. GPS-guided soil sampling is $50 a field and water testing is $65 a sample, and both tell you where the yield is being left behind. Custom blends, compost supply and fertigation planning follow from what the numbers say.
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This Month in American History
October 19, 1781: Surrender at Yorktown
Two hundred forty-five years ago this month, on a field outside a small Virginia tobacco port, Lord Cornwallis's army laid down its arms to the American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau. A French fleet had shut the mouth of the Chesapeake weeks before, and with no way out by sea and allied guns closing in by land, the siege was over.
Cornwallis did not come out himself; he sent his second in command, who tried to hand his sword to the French. He was pointed to the Americans, and Washington had his own second, General Benjamin Lincoln, accept it. The fighting did not stop that day, and the peace treaty took two more years. But Yorktown is where the outcome was decided.
It was won by people who had been at it for six years with short pay, short food and short patience from the folks back home, and who stayed in the field until the job was done. Anyone bringing in a crop this fall knows a little of that feeling.
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I have the Honor to inform Congress, that a Reduction of the British Army under the Command of Lord Cornwallis, is most happily effected.
George Washington to Congress
Yorktown, October 19, 1781
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To the Men & Women of Our Armed Forces and First Responders
The rules in this report get written and argued over because somebody guarantees the room they are argued in. That is you, on posts around the world, and in every fire hall and squad room between here and the coast, including the ones that answer a call to a field road at two in the morning. We farm in freedom because you stand in its defense.
You are the reason we are Safe and Free.
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Make The Acres Earn The Labor
Labor runs close to 40 cents of every dollar of cash expense on a specialty crop farm. When that cost is fixed and climbing, the return has to come out of the ground. GPS-guided soil sampling is $50 a field and water testing is $65 a sample, both tell you where the yield is being left behind. Reach out any time.
GPS Soil Sampling
Water Testing
Custom Blends
Fertigation Planning
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Every issue we have ever published is free at bmelloag.com/reports, field conditions, ag crime, labor, markets, fuel and fishing.
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This one comes from the other side of the operation: the payroll runs, the wage orders, and the calls that start with “did you hear what they are doing in Sacramento.” The rules keep moving and the deadlines do not care how harvest is going. We’d rather you hear it from someone who shares your sunrises, your sunsets, and the long day in between. That’s the promise behind every B Mello Ag Labor Report.
Proudly American · Rooted in the American Dream
Bryan Mello
B Mello Ag Services, Central Valley, California
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B Mello Ag Services · Central Valley, CA
October 2026 · Published October 29, 2026
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(559) 816-3889
bryan@bmelloag.com
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This newsletter is provided for informational and educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Wage rates, regulations, filing deadlines and enforcement policy change frequently and vary by county, crop and operation, and several items reported here are in active litigation or awaiting final action. Always consult qualified labor counsel, the California Labor Commissioner’s office, Cal/OSHA, or the U.S. Department of Labor before making payroll, employment or compliance decisions. B Mello Ag Services assumes no liability for decisions made based on this publication.
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