Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB273: SB273 Minimum Wage; certain provisions regarding the minimum wage law; revise

Last action February 27, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred

A Georgia Senate bill would raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $22.00 an hour, add annual cost-of-living increases, and remove several exemptions that currently let some employers pay less.

In plain language

Georgia's minimum wage law (O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3) has long set a base rate of $5.15 an hour, far below the federal minimum wage that most employers must already follow. This bill rewrites that section to set the state minimum wage at $22.00 per hour starting when the law takes effect. Starting January 1, 2026, and every January 1 after that, the wage would be adjusted upward based on cost-of-living data the Georgia Department of Labor gathers each September using a federal consumer price index. The bill also lets employers of tipped workers count tips toward up to 50 percent of the minimum wage, a new provision. It raises the small-business sales exemption threshold from $40,000 to $50,000 a year, but removes exemptions that previously covered employers with five or fewer employees, domestic employers, farm owners, and employees paid partly in tips. It keeps exemptions for student workers, newspaper carriers, and certain nonprofit care facility employees, raising the pay floor for that last exemption from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. The law would take effect January 1, 2026.

What the bill does

Raises the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $22.00 per hour under O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3.
Creates annual cost-of-living adjustments to the minimum wage starting January 1, 2026, based on Georgia Department of Labor calculations using a federal consumer price index.
Allows employers of tipped workers who qualify under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to count tips toward up to 50 percent of the minimum wage owed.
Removes the minimum wage exemptions for employers with five or fewer employees, domestic employers, farm owners or land renters, and employees paid partly in tips.
Raises the small-employer sales exemption from $40,000 to $50,000 per year in sales.
Raises the pay floor for the nonprofit child-caring and long-term care facility exemption from $10,000 to $15,000 per year.

Who it affects

Georgia employers of all sizes, especially small businesses, farm owners, domestic employers, and employers of tipped workers who currently rely on exemptions from the state minimum wage; low-wage and tipped workers; the Georgia Department of Labor, which would calculate annual wage adjustments; and nonprofit child-caring and long-term care facilities.

Why it matters

If enacted, most Georgia workers not otherwise covered by higher federal minimum wage rules would see a large mandated pay floor increase to $22.00 an hour, with automatic annual raises tied to inflation. Small employers, farms, and domestic employers who previously fell under exemptions would newly have to comply.

Key provisions

Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3(a)(1) to raise the base minimum wage from $5.15 to $22.00 per hour.
Section 1 adds subparagraph (a)(2), requiring the Georgia Department of Labor to calculate cost-of-living adjustments each September 30 and apply them each following January 1.
Section 1 adds subsection (b), allowing a tip credit of up to 50 percent of the minimum wage for qualifying tipped employees under federal law.
Section 1 raises the small-business sales exemption threshold from $40,000 to $50,000 per year and eliminates exemptions for employers with five or fewer employees, domestic employers, farm owners or land renters, and tipped employees generally.
Section 1 raises the annual compensation floor for the nonprofit child-caring and long-term care facility exemption from $10,000 to $15,000.
Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.
Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

Status timeline

2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

minimum wage
labor law
tipped workers
small business regulation
cost of living