Farmers don't need to pay time-and-a-half overtime wages for agricultural work, but the details of how that exemption is applied can land employers in court.

As two recent Oregon cases demonstrate, growers and employees don't always see eye-to-eye about which type of labor falls under the farm work exemption.

In a case filed against the Leo Gentry Nursery in Gresham, Ore., on July 15, two terminated employees claim the company owes them overtime wages.

The complaint says the plaintiffs were involved in the "production of goods for commerce" but did not specify their duties, and an attorney representing them declined to elaborate.

In another recently settled case, 10 employees of the Beef Northwest feedlot company in Eastern Oregon sued the firm for not paying overtime wages.
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