From the Fields to the Courtroom — Salinas Workers Have Rights
Salinas feeds the country. Eighty percent of the lettuce Americans eat comes from this valley. Strawberries, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, cauliflower, celery, wine grapes — billions of pounds of crops grown, picked, packed, and shipped by a workforce that is approximately 80 percent Hispanic and overwhelmingly hardworking.
That workforce deserves every protection California law provides. And California provides more than almost any other state.
Abramson Labor Group represents Salinas workers — in the fields, in the packing houses, in the hospitals, in the restaurants, and everywhere else — on contingency. You pay nothing unless we win. We serve clients in Spanish.
Salinas is the county seat of Monterey County, with a population of approximately 165,000 and an economy anchored by an $8 billion agriculture industry. Major employers include Dole Fresh Vegetables, Taylor Farms, Driscoll’s, D’Arrigo Brothers, the County of Monterey, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, and more than 100 manufacturing firms. The Salinas Valley supports an estimated 35,000 seasonal and permanent jobs across farming, packing houses, logistics, and related services.
This page covers every employment right that matters to Salinas workers — starting with the rights most often violated in the industries that define this city.
More than 35 years of combined experience. Over 500 five-star Google reviews. Five Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. A unanimous jury verdict in a retaliation case.
Consultas gratuitas: (213) 493-6300
Agricultural Workers: Full Rights, Full Overtime, Full Protection
Overtime. AB 1066 is fully implemented as of January 1, 2025, for all farm sizes. Agricultural workers are now entitled to time-and-a-half after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time after 12 hours — the same standard as every other California worker. If your employer is still paying you straight time for a 10-hour harvest day, they owe you overtime.
Meal and rest breaks. Farmworkers are entitled to a 30-minute duty-free meal break before the fifth hour and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. In the fields and packing houses of the Salinas Valley, these breaks are frequently skipped, shortened, or taken under conditions (no shade, no seating, no access to restrooms) that don’t meet legal requirements. Each violation: one hour of premium pay per day.
Heat illness prevention. California’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard requires shade, water, and rest at 80°F, with enhanced high-heat procedures at 95°F. Indoor packing houses and processing plants are covered by the indoor standard (effective July 2024), which triggers protections at 82°F. Salinas Valley summers bring extended periods of heat, and agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable. If your employer’s heat plan consists of a water jug and nothing else, that’s not compliance.
Pesticide exposure. Agricultural workers have the right to be informed about pesticides used in their workplace, to receive training in a language they understand, and to be provided with protective equipment. Exposure-related illness is compensable under workers’ comp, and failure to provide protections may give rise to additional claims.Piece-rate pay. If you’re paid by the bin, the row, or the unit, your employer must still ensure you earn at least minimum wage for every hour worked. You must also be separately compensated for rest breaks and non-productive time (Labor Code § 226.2). If your piece-rate structure doesn’t account for these requirements, you have a claim.
Packing House and Food Processing Workers
Salinas is home to massive packing and cooling operations where produce is sorted, washed, packaged, and prepared for shipment. Workers in these facilities are entitled to the same protections as every other California employee: overtime, meal and rest breaks, accurate pay stubs, workers’ comp, and protection from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
Common violations in packing houses include missed breaks during peak harvest, overtime that isn’t properly calculated during long shifts, temp agency arrangements where neither the agency nor the client takes responsibility, and injuries — repetitive stress, chemical exposure, slips and falls — that go unreported because workers fear retaliation.
California Labor Code § 2810.3 makes the client employer jointly liable for violations when temp workers are used. If you were hired through a staffing agency to work in a Salinas packing house, you can bring claims against both entities.
Immigration Status Does Not Limit Your Rights
This is not a technicality. It is the law. Every California labor protection — overtime, meal breaks, workers’ comp, discrimination, harassment, retaliation — applies to every worker regardless of immigration status. Labor Code § 244 says so explicitly.
If your employer has threatened to call ICE, threatened to “check your papers,” or used your status to discourage you from reporting violations, that threat carries $10,000 in penalties per incident under Labor Code § 1019. Document-abuse protections under § 1024.6 prohibit employers from demanding specific documents beyond I-9 requirements.
In a city that is 80 percent Hispanic, with a workforce that includes substantial numbers of immigrant and seasonal workers, these protections are not abstract — they are survival. And we enforce them.
Servimos a clientes en español.
Wrongful Termination
Your employer cannot fire you for reporting unpaid wages, for filing a workers’ comp claim, for complaining about unsafe conditions, for taking medical leave, for refusing to do something illegal, or because of your race, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, gender, or any other protected characteristic. If the timing of your termination follows a protected activity and the reason given doesn’t match your record, it may be wrongful.
Damages include back pay, front pay, emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Workplace Discrimination
FEHA prohibits discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, gender, age (40+), disability, pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, military status, and more. In Salinas, discrimination based on national origin, ethnicity, language, and skin color is a persistent concern — particularly in workplaces where the labor force is overwhelmingly Hispanic but management is not. Unequal discipline, promotion denials, pay disparities, and hostile treatment based on protected characteristics are all actionable. FEHA has no cap on damages.
Sexual Harassment
Harassment based on sex, gender, or any protected characteristic is illegal. Supervisor harassment triggers strict employer liability. Coworker or third-party harassment triggers liability if the employer knew or should have known. You do not need to report to HR first.
Retaliation
If you reported a violation and your employer responded by firing you, cutting your hours, changing your schedule, writing you up, or making your work life worse — that’s retaliation. California prohibits it under multiple statutes. Damages include reinstatement, back pay, emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Workers’ Compensation
Every employer must carry workers’ comp. Agricultural injuries — heat illness, pesticide exposure, back injuries from stoop labor, repetitive stress from packing, equipment accidents, vehicle collisions during transport — are all compensable regardless of fault. Your employer cannot retaliate against you for filing. If they refuse to provide a claim form or pressure you not to file, those failures are separate violations.
Healthcare, Retail, and Service Workers
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, Natividad Medical Center, and the retail and restaurant businesses throughout Salinas employ thousands of workers who face the same violations found in every California city: unpaid overtime, missed breaks, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. If you work outside of agriculture, every protection on this page still applies to you.
Personal Injury
We also handle personal injury claims for Salinas residents — vehicle accidents on Highway 101 and local roads, wrongful death, slip and fall, and product liability.
How It Works
Free consultation. Tell us what happened. We tell you what the law says and what your case is worth. In English or Spanish.
Investigation. We gather pay records, time sheets, personnel files, and witness testimony.
Resolution. Negotiation, mediation, or trial. Unanimous jury verdict experience. We go as far as needed.
Contingency. You pay nothing unless we win.
Serving Salinas and the Salinas Valley
We represent workers throughout Salinas and the surrounding area, including East Salinas, Alisal, North Salinas, Creekbridge, the Salinas industrial corridor, and neighborhoods throughout the city. We also serve workers in Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City, Hollister, Marina, Seaside, Castroville, Watsonville, and throughout Monterey County.
Address: 1700 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506 Phone: (213) 660-4461 Claims filed in Monterey County Superior Court. We represent employees in every California county.
Preguntas Frecuentes / Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. As of January 1, 2025, AB 1066 is fully implemented. Agricultural workers get time-and-a-half after 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week — same as everyone else.
Yes. Piece-rate employers must still ensure you earn minimum wage for every hour and must separately compensate you for rest breaks and non-productive time.
Yes. Every California labor law applies regardless of immigration status. Threats based on your status are illegal and carry $10,000 penalties.
Both the contractor and the grower/packing house. California law holds both jointly liable.
Nothing unless we win.
Llame hoy: (213) 493-6300. Consultas gratuitas. Sirviendo a Salinas, el Valle de Salinas, y todo California.