Turner, OR – Dec. 9, 2021 – Willamette Valley Vineyards (NASDAQ: WVVI & WVVIP), a leading producer of Pinot Noir in Oregon, will adopt the same phase-in schedule of time-and-a-half for overtime work by agricultural employees beginning January 2022 as adopted by the State of Washington Legislature. Additionally, as an emergency measure, the company announced that hourly agricultural workers will receive a CPI (Consumer Price Index) increase in their base wage of 6.2 percent. This action is effective on January 1st for these workers prior to and earlier than the company’s annual compensation review to be held in May.
Willamette Valley Vineyards Founder and CEO Jim Bernau said these families need help coping with new and high inflation pressures.
“The rapid rise of inflation is hurting our hourly paid farm employees the most, so we are increasing their compensation effective on January 1,” Bernau said. “We will also begin transitioning to provide time-and-a-half wages for overtime for our agricultural workers by following the schedule in the recently adopted Washington State law.
Bernau explained this change will move the company to providing equitable treatment for all winery employees in an orderly fashion where these new costs can be successfully absorbed over time without costing jobs.
He urges Oregon lawmakers to carefully tailor the elimination of the agricultural overtime exemption recognizing the wide diversity of agricultural sectors and peak seasonal challenges as well as provide a fund to help small farms make the transition without costing workers their jobs or pay.
“Our farmers and their employees must work as Mother Nature dictates, and cannot regulate their work schedules at times,” Bernau noted. “It is important this change takes place without putting at risk all their work that has been done for the crop during the season or farm worker jobs. While Willamette is able to transition to paying overtime for field work without using government assistance, not all small farms have that ability because of their higher – and rising – fixed costs.”
Willamette Valley Vineyards • 8800 Enchanted Way SE • Turner, OR 97392 Ph: (800) 344-9463 • Email: info@wvv.com
Bernau added that recent developments on the issue, the upcoming Special Session and short Legislation Session in January will give state policy makers an opportunity to find a win-win for farm workers and farmers.
Willamette Valley Vineyards employs approximately 45 full-time hourly field agricultural workers ballooning to 135 at harvest. The winery did not use any federal PPP loans or grants during the Pandemic as Bernau said he believed those limited taxpayer funds should be available to smaller businesses in greater need.
Under the new Washington State law, agricultural employees will be entitled to receive overtime pay starting Jan. 1, 2022, with the removal of the agricultural overtime exemption following the phase-in schedule for three years.
Each year, the phase-in schedule gradually reduces the number of hours employees need to work in a workweek to receive overtime pay:
- Beginning Jan. 1, 2022: 55 hours
- Beginning Jan. 1, 2023: 48 hours
- Beginning Jan. 1, 2024: 40 hours
Additionally, Willamette Valley Vineyards offers all employees a full company match for employee contributions to their 401K retirement plan up to 4 percent of an employee’s compensation and employees can accumulate up to 96 hours of paid sick time. Juneteenth is included as one of the winery’s paid holidays, plus a full day of paid compensation for non-profit work. For the Pandemic, Willamette Valley Vineyards compensates all employees three paid hours for each vaccination and booster.
About Willamette Valley Vineyards:
Founded in 1983 by Jim Bernau with the dream of creating world-class Pinot Noir while serving as stewards of the land, Willamette Valley Vineyards has grown from a bold idea into one of the region’s leading wineries, earning the title “One of America’s Great Pinot Noir Producers” from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. All of the vineyards have been certified sustainable through LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe programs. The winery is community-owned by wine enthusiasts devoted to sharing the Oregon story of world-class wines.
