29 C.F.R. § 780.408 Facilities of system must be used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
Title 29 - Labor
Section 13(b)(12) requires for exemption of irrigation work that the ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways in connection with which the employee's work is done be “used exclusively for supply and storing of water for agricultural purposes.” If a water supplier supplies water for other than “agricultural purposes,” the exemption would not apply. For example, the exemption would not apply where a portion of its water is delivered by the supplier to a municipality to be used for general, domestic, and commercial purposes. The fact that a small amount of the water furnished for use in his farming operations is in fact used for incidental domestic purposes by the farmer on the farm does not, however, require the conclusion that the water supplied was not exclusively “for agricultural purposes” within the meaning of the irrigation exemption in section 13(b)(12). Accordingly, if otherwise applicable, the exemption is not defeated merely because the water stored and supplied through the ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways of the irrigation system includes a small amount which is used for domestic purposes on the farms to which it is supplied. On the other hand, if the water supplier should maintain separate facilities for storing and supplying water for domestic use, it is clear that employees employed in connection with the maintenance or operation of such facilities would not be employed in activities to which the exemption applies. Water used for watering livestock raised by a farmer is “for agricultural purposes.”
Title 29: Labor
PART 780—EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT
Subpart E—Employment in Agriculture or Irrigation That Is Exempted From the Overtime Pay Requirements Under Section 13(b)(12)
The Irrigation Exemption
§ 780.408 Facilities of system must be used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
