AB 2646 Leaves California Pistachio Growers Guessing on Wages

On a pistachio operation, a crew sheet is a practical document: names, jobs, hours, and the difference between a seasonal hand and a year-round employee. AB 2646 gives that last distinction new weight, while also making the task itself part of the wage question.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure in early October. It targets temporary and seasonal agricultural workers, along with domestic farmworkers doing the same tasks, according to the bill’s reported scope.

A higher rate, with a new calendar

For covered agricultural employees, the hourly floor will be $19.75 when the rule takes effect. That is a substantial move from California’s current $16.90 minimum wage, and the new rate will be subject to annual cost-of-living adjustments. The employer analysis describes those adjustments as beginning in 2028.

The wage applies to covered workers, not automatically to every person on a farm payroll. That makes the classification question central for pistachio businesses: harvest labor, orchard maintenance, and other jobs need to be assessed against the law’s definitions rather than grouped under a single seasonal label.

The classification work starts on the payroll

AB 2646 establishes two agricultural-worker classifications for wage-and-hour compliance. The available account does not provide the full classification language, so employers will need the statutory text and applicable guidance before deciding how particular roles fit. The report on the new rule flags that uncertainty for growers.

For pistachio managers, this is less a question of changing orchard practice than of connecting job descriptions, time records, and payroll treatment. If seasonal and domestic employees perform the same task, the task-based coverage language makes that comparison worth resolving before the first affected pay period.

A budget built around a single agricultural wage assumption may no longer be enough. The useful distinction will be between workers who meet the law’s coverage tests and those who do not—an administrative line that can be harder to draw than the rows in an orchard.