HB600: HB600 Minimum Wage and Second Chance Act of 2025; enact

Georgia's general minimum wage law currently sets a floor of $5.15 per hour, well below the federal minimum, and that base rate stays unchanged under this bill. Instead, the bill adds two new categories with their own higher minimums: agricultural employers with ten or more workers would have to pay a rising minimum wage starting at $15.00 per hour in 2025 and climbing to $27.00 per hour by July 2028, and all state government agencies would have to pay their employees and contractors at least $20.00 per hour. The bill also creates a 'Second Chance' grant program run by the Department of Labor to pay employers who keep a rehabilitated offender (someone hired within five years of release from prison) as a full-time employee for at least a year. The department would set eligibility rules, certify offenders, run the application process, and report yearly to legislative committees starting December 31, 2026. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Leaves the general state minimum wage at $5.15 per hour but adds a separate, higher minimum wage schedule for agricultural employers with ten or more workers, rising from $15.00 in 2025 to $27.00 per hour by July 2028.
• Requires all Georgia state agencies to pay state employees and independent contractors at least $20.00 per hour.
• Creates a Second Chance grant program at the Department of Labor to pay employers who keep a rehabilitated offender employed full-time for at least one year.
• Directs the Department of Labor to set eligibility criteria, certify rehabilitated offenders, run an application process, and distribute grants.
• Requires the department to submit an annual report starting December 31, 2026 to House and Senate labor committees on grants, employers, and program impact.
• Removes the existing exemption from minimum wage law for employers who are farm owners, sharecroppers, or land renters, replacing that subsection with 'Reserved.'

Agricultural businesses with ten or more employees and their workers, all Georgia state agencies and their employees or contractors, the Department of Labor, employers who hire people with recent criminal convictions, and those formerly incarcerated individuals seeking employment.

Agricultural workers at larger farm-related businesses and state employees would see mandated pay increases well above Georgia's current minimum wage. Employers who hire people leaving prison could receive state grant money, which may affect hiring decisions and reentry job prospects for people with convictions.

• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3 and eliminates the prior exemption for farm owners, sharecroppers, and land renters from the minimum wage chapter, marking that subsection 'Reserved.'
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 34-4-7, setting a phased minimum wage for agricultural employers with ten or more employees: $15.00/hour (2025-26), $18.00/hour (2026-27), $21.00/hour (2027-28), and $27.00/hour from July 2028 onward.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 34-4-8, requiring all state agencies to pay state employees and independent contractors at least $20.00 per hour.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 34-4-9, creating the Second Chance grant program for employers who keep a rehabilitated offender employed full-time for at least a year, subject to available state funding.
• Section 3 requires the Department of Labor to certify rehabilitated offenders, set grant criteria, and submit an annual report to legislative labor committees starting December 31, 2026.
• Section 4 states the Act takes effect upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)Primary sponsor
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)
• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)
• Kimberly Alexander (D, HD-066)
• Rhonda Taylor (D, HD-092)

• minimum wage
• agricultural workers
• state employees
• criminal justice reentry
• labor law