O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3 (2019)
Amount of minimum wage to be paid by employers; employers and employees covered by chapter
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, every employer, whether a person, firm, or corporation, shall pay to all covered employees a minimum wage which shall be not less than $5.15 per hour for each hour worked in the employment of such employer.
(b) This chapter shall not apply with respect to:
(1) Any employer that has sales of $40,000.00 per year or less;
(2) Any employer having five employees or less;
(3) Any employer of domestic employees;
(4) Any employer who is a farm owner, sharecropper, or land renter;
(5) Any employee whose compensation consists wholly or partially of gratuities;
(6) Any employee who is a high school or college student;
(7) Any individual who is employed as a newspaper carrier; or
(8) Any individual who is employed by a nonprofit child-caring institution or long-term care facility serving children or mentally disabled adults who are enrolled in such institution and reside in residential facilities of the institution, if such employee resides in such facilities, receives without cost board and lodging from such institution, and is compensated on a cash basis at an annual rate of not less than $10,000.00.
(c) This chapter shall not apply to any employer who is subject to the minimum wage provisions of any act of Congress as to employees covered thereby if such act of Congress provides for a minimum wage which is greater than the minimum wage which is provided for in this Code section.
History
(Ga. L. 1970, p. 153, §§ 2, 6-8; Ga. L. 1984, p. 1324, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 201, § 1.)
Annotations
Law reviews. - For note on the 2001 amendment to this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 183 (2001). JUDICIAL DECISIONS Ordinance strengthening minimum wage law. - There is no unconstitutional conflict between the state minimum wage law as codified in this section and a city ordinance, which requires payment of the prescribed Davis-Bacon Act wage scale in construction projects in excess of $10,000.00, when the ordinance does not detract from or hinder the operation of that section, but rather it augments and strengthens it. City of Atlanta v. Associated Bldrs. & Contractors, 240 Ga. 655, 242 S.E.2d 139 (1978). Employee not ‘‘covered’’. - Employee that fell under the Fair Labor Stan-
dards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., exemption was not effectively ‘‘covered’’ by the Act for purposes of O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3(c) analysis, thereby prohibiting that employee from receiving minimum wage compensation under the Georgia Minimum Wage Law (GMWL), O.C.G.A. § 34-4-1 et seq. Anderson v. Southern Home Care Services, Inc., 298 Ga. 175, 780 S.E.2d 339 (2015). Individual whose employment consisted of providing in-home personal support services was not prohibited from receiving minimum wage compensation under the Georgia Minimum Wage Law, O.C.G.A.
§ 34-4-1, et seq., pursuant to the ‘‘domestic employees’’ exception articulated in O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3(b)(3). Anderson v. Southern Home Care Services, Inc., 298 Ga. 175, 780 S.E.2d 339 (2015).
Cited in City of Atlanta v. Associated Bldrs. & Contractors, 143 Ga. App. 115, 237 S.E.2d 601 (1977).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 48B Am. Jur. 2d, Labor and Labor Relations, §§ 2741, 2960. C.J.S. - 51B C.J.S., Labor Relations, §§ 1218 et seq., 1234 et seq., 1302 et seq. ALR. - Waiver of statutory right to minimum wage or benefit of regulation as to hours of labor, 102 ALR 842; 129 ALR 1145. Employee’s or agent’s acceptance of bonus, gratuity, or other personal benefit from one with whom he deals on employer’s or principal’s account as affecting his right to recover wages, salary, or commissions, 102 ALR 1115. Waiver or loss of statutory right to minimum wage or benefit of regulation as to hours of labor, 128 ALR 1145. Validity of statute, or administrative regulation thereunder, which in effect guarantees to part-time employees minimum wages regardless of the time of their actual employment, 143 ALR 1086. Validity of statute or regulation in respect of tips, 147 ALR 1039. Nonprofit charitable institutions as within operation of labor statutes, 26 ALR2d 1020.
Validity of minimum wage statutes relating to private employment, 39 ALR2d 740. Who is employed in ‘‘professional capacity’’ within exemptions from minimum wage and maximum hours provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act, 72 ALR2d 1156; 77 ALR Fed. 681. Who is executive, administrator, supervisor, or the like, under exemption for such employees from state minimum wage and overtime pay statutes, 85 ALR4th 519. Who is employed in ‘‘executive capacity’’ within exemption, under 29 USCS § 213(a)(l), from minimum wage and maximum hours provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act (29 USCS § 201 et seq.), 131 ALR Fed. 1. Who is ‘‘employee employed in agriculture’’ and therefore exempt from overtime provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act by § 13 (b)(12) of Act (29 U.S.C.A. § 213(b)(12)), 162 ALR Fed. 575. Tips as wages for purposes of state wage laws, 61 ALR 6th 61.