AB2646 - Employment: minimum wages: agricultural workers.

Enrolled August 27, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 25, 2026 Passed IN Assembly May 26, 2026 Amended IN Assembly May 18, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2646 Introduced by Assembly Member Krell February 20, 2026 An act to add Section 1208 to the Labor Code, relating to employment, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2646, Krell. Employment: minimum wages: agricultural workers. Existing law establishes a minimum wage for all industries and imposes criminal penalties for violation of these wage provisions. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to collect due and unpaid wages or benefits on behalf of workers. Under existing law, the commissioner acts as trustee and deposits collected wages and benefits into the Industrial Relations Unpaid Wage Fund, which is continuously appropriated for the purpose of remitting the collected wages or benefits. This bill would require the minimum hourly wage for an approved agricultural employee and corresponding employee, as defined, to be $19.75 per hour. Commencing January 1, 2027, and each January thereafter, the bill would require the above-described minimum hourly wage to be adjusted by an amount equal to the cost-of-living adjustment for social security benefits, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By increasing the revenue to the Industrial Relations Unpaid Wage Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, and expanding the purposes for which moneys in that fund may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 1208 is added to the Labor Code, immediately following Section 1207, to read: 1208. (a) The minimum hourly wage for an approved agricultural employee and corresponding employee shall be nineteen dollars and seventy-five cents ($19.75) per hour. (b) Commencing on January 1, 2027, and each January 1 thereafter, the wage specified in subdivision (a) shall be adjusted by an amount equal to the cost-of-living adjustment for social security benefits for that year as published by the Social Security Administration based on changes in the United States Consumer Price Index, and be applied to the previous year’s amount in the same manner as social security adjustments are applied. (c) For purposes of this section: (1) “Agricultural employer” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1140.4. (2) “Agriculture” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1140.4. (3) “Approved agricultural employee” means an employee engaged in agriculture who is a resident outside of the state and is permitted to work in the state on a temporary or seasonal basis through an application process where the Labor and Workforce Development Agency or the Employment Development Department has approved, in part or in whole, an application or job order to hire agricultural workers from outside of the state on a temporary or seasonal basis. (4) “Corresponding employee” means an employee engaged in agriculture who is a resident of the state and who performs the same, or substantially similar, work during the same time period as an approved agricultural employee employed by the same employer in the same county. (5) “Temporary or seasonal basis” means employment of a temporary nature where the employer’s need to fill the position with a temporary worker shall, except in extraordinary circumstances, last no longer than one year. SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.