On September 30, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2646. It is now Chapter 956 of the 2026 Statutes. The bill adds Section 1208 to the California Labor Code. It creates a state minimum wage for certain agricultural workers that sits above California’s general minimum wage.
The new floor is $19.75 an hour. It applies on January 1, 2027. Each January 1 after that, the rate is adjusted by the same cost-of-living increase Social Security uses. The bill does not let the rate go down. This is a California wage statute. It does not change the H-2A program. It changes what a California job has to pay.
Who is covered
The law uses two definitions.
An approved agricultural employee is a person who lives outside California and is allowed to work in the state on a temporary or seasonal basis because the Labor and Workforce Development Agency or the Employment Development Department approved, in whole or in part, an application or job order to bring in agricultural workers. An H-2A worker placed through a California job order is the person this definition was written for.
A corresponding employee is a California resident who does the same work, or substantially similar work, for the same employer, in the same county, during the same period. If the H-2A crew is picking in Fresno County, the local workers doing that same job for that employer in Fresno County are in the same wage. A worker in another county, or a worker doing a different job, is not automatically covered by this section.
Agriculture and agricultural employer take the meanings already used in California Labor Code section 1140.4. That is the state’s agricultural labor definition. It is broad. It reaches farming, and it can reach work done on the farm in connection with that farming.
What employers have to pay.
H-2A has always required the highest of the applicable rates. That list already includes the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, the prevailing wage, the federal minimum wage, and the state minimum wage. AB 2646 adds another California number for the workers it covers.
If the federal AEWR for the occupation is below $19.75, the California floor controls for covered workers. If a later federal rate is higher, the federal rate controls. The job order, the recruitment, and the paycheck have to match the higher number.
California’s general minimum wage is $16.90. The new agricultural floor is $19.75. That is the comparison that matters for most California H-2A files. Piece rate and hourly work are both covered. Piece rate still has to produce at least $19.75 an hour.
The federal wage fight is a separate case. A California court has ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a new AEWR method by December 30, 2026, and a possible back-pay window has been open since September 2. AB 2646 does not settle that case. An employer can owe the California rate and still have a federal rate question on the same payroll.
What this does not do
It does not apply to a farm with no California worksite. A North Dakota, Florida, or Texas job order is untouched.
It does not let an employer pay the H-2A crew $19.75 and pay the local crew in the same county, on the same job, a lower rate. Corresponding employees are in the statute on purpose.
It does not replace housing, transportation, the three-fourths guarantee, or the rest of the H-2A contract. Those still come from the federal certification.
It simply sets a higher wage floor for H-2A employers, for any contracts that are all or partially in California.
What to do before the next California filing
Make sure the offered wage on the ETA-790A and the ETA-9142A is at least $19.75, or the higher federal rate if one applies.
Use the same rate in recruitment. A job order that advertises a lower figure is a problem at the Employment Development Department and at the Chicago National Processing Center.
Know which of your California employees are doing the same work, in the same county, at the same time. They are corresponding employees under this statute. Their paycheck has to come up with the H-2A rate.
Budget the January increases. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is published in the fall. It will move this floor every January. A multi-year wage promise in a contract should not assume $19.75 is the lasting number.
Sources
California Assembly Bill 2646, Chapter 956, Statutes of 2026, adding Labor Code section 1208. Approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 30, 2026. Bill text at the California Legislative Information site, bill identifier 202520260AB2646.
California Labor Code section 1140.4, definitions of agriculture and agricultural employer.
This note is general information for H2 Visa Consultants clients. It is not a legal opinion, and it is not a substitute for advice on a particular job order, county, or contract. California wage law and the federal H-2A wage rules are both in motion. Confirm the rate on the filing before it goes to the Employment Development Department.
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Questions about an active case? Contact H2 Visa Consultants, LLC at (830) 584-4555 or inquiry@h2visaconsultants.com.
H2 Visa Consultants, LLC is not a law firm and does not provide any level of legal advice of any sort. H2 Visa Consultants, LLC’s members, staff and advisors comprise of experts in the H-2A and H-2B industry that are highly competent and highly informed. As always however, with any legal immigrant or non-immigrant program, we highly advise that our clients seek out separate legal advice from a qualified attorney representative in order to ensure that all legal obligations are met. No advice provided by H2 Visa Consultants, LLC, its staff or its members, in any way constitutes actual legal advice.