This bill amends RCW 49.46.130 (the state overtime law), restating the statute with multiple exemptions and a multi-year phase‑in of overtime thresholds for agricultural employees: beginning January 1, 2022 the overtime threshold is over 55 hours per week; January 1, 2023 over 48 hours; and January 1, 2024 over 40 hours, subject to a new special-weeks provision. The bill creates a new section allowing an agricultural employer to select 12 "special circumstance" weeks in a calendar year during which the employer may employ agricultural employees up to 50 hours in each selected week before overtime pay under the statute applies. The bill imposes procedural requirements on employers: they must keep records of which special weeks were used (in addition to RCW 49.30.020 records), provide an initial annual good-faith estimate of the selected 12 weeks at least 30 days before the first expected special week (or upon hiring within 30 days), provide the estimate no later than the worker's visa application date for employees employed under federal temporary work visa programs, give written notice at least annually and no later than seven days before the first special week (or upon hiring for later starts), and may change selections only with at least one week's written notice if the initial disclosure was a good-faith expectation and the change was unforeseeable. The bill defines "agricultural employee" for this section to include a broad set of farm and related activities and expressly excludes "dairy employee," which it defines by NAICS code 112120. The act is declared necessary for immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety and takes effect immediately. The bill also bars recovery of damages, statutory or civil penalties, attorneys' fees and costs, or other relief against an employer for unpaid overtime claims that arise from the historical exclusion in subsection (2)(g) as it existed on November 4, 2020, for all claims, causes of action, and proceedings commenced on or after November 5, 2020; this limitation is retroactive to that extent but otherwise prospective. That no-relief provision does not apply to dairy employees entitled to back pay or other relief as members of the class in Martinez‑Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, 196 Wn.2d 506 (2020). The provided text is incomplete in places: the first chunk cuts off mid-sentence regarding subsection (6)(d)(i), the exact labeling or placement of the new section is not fully shown, and detailed enforcement, penalty, or other operational provisions beyond those summarized above are not included in the extracted material.

If enacted, the bill lets farm employers pick 12 weeks each year when workers can be scheduled up to 50 hours in a week before overtime pay is required, while requiring employers to keep records of which weeks are used and to give workers advance written notices: a good‑faith estimate at least 30 days before the first expected special week (or at hiring), visa workers must get that disclosure by the visa application date, and an annual notice at least seven days before the first special week. Employers can change chosen weeks only with at least one week’s written notice, if the original estimate was a reasonable good‑faith expectation and the change was due to unforeseeable circumstances; dairy workers are excluded from the “agricultural employee” definition, members of the Martinez‑Cuevas class still can get relief, and the act takes effect immediately. Practically, agricultural employers gain a legal, limited way to reduce overtime payroll and litigation exposure for periods of peak work, but they also take on new notice and recordkeeping duties and some compliance risk if they fail to follow the timing rules; agricultural workers may see fewer overtime payments during those selected weeks and have reduced ability to recover past unpaid overtime for claims filed on or after November 5, 2020 (with the noted Martinez‑Cuevas exception). Some implementation details and the interplay with other overtime phase‑in rules aren’t fully shown in the extracted facts, so certain enforcement and procedural questions remain unclear.