This proposal seeks to evaluate the impact of the new Oregon overtime law on farmworkers’ work experiences (e.g., wage theft; work overload; stress; job insecurity) and well-being, including mental health. Oregon passed HB 4002 in 2022, which began its five-year phase-in to provide overtime pay to agricultural workers starting in January 2023. Although much is known about the impacts of consistently working overtime and/or low pay on physical health, mental health, sleep, and mortality, little is known about the experiences of farmworkers and their families in reference to working overtime, and, to our knowledge, no work has considered the impact or effectiveness of state-level overtime legislation on farmworkers’ work experiences, mental health and wellbeing.
Principal Investigator: Leslie B. Hammer, PhD, Professor, Co-Director, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, Associate Director of Applied Research, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University