HB 1493: Georgia Worker Empowerment Act; enact

Georgia currently has no state law giving most private-sector workers a right to organize unions or bargain collectively, and most employees can be fired for almost any reason under at-will employment. This bill creates a new chapter of state labor law, the Georgia Worker Empowerment Act, that applies to workers and employers not already covered by the federal National Labor Relations Act. It guarantees the right to organize, bans employer retaliation for union activity, bars mandatory anti-union meetings, and limits automated productivity quotas in warehouses. It also ends at-will employment statewide by requiring employers to have just cause to fire someone, and creates six industry worker standards boards (construction, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing/warehouse, retail/food service, and trucking) to recommend wage, hour, and safety standards to the Department of Labor. The bill also requires 14 days advance scheduling and extra pay for late shift changes in large retail, food service, and hospitality businesses, changes the legal test for who counts as an independent contractor, exempts good-faith labor bargaining from the state's criminal extortion law, repeals several laws that historically restricted public-sector collective bargaining and strikes, and requires prevailing wages on public works contracts over $25,000. It would take effect immediately if signed by the Governor.

• Creates a new Georgia Worker Empowerment Act giving private-sector employees not covered by federal labor law the right to unionize and bargain collectively, and bans employer retaliation for organizing.
• Ends at-will employment by requiring employers to have just cause (a bona fide reason or documented poor performance after progressive discipline) before firing an employee.
• Establishes six industry worker standards boards (construction, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing/warehouse, retail/food service, trucking) to recommend wage, hour, and safety standards to the Department of Labor.
• Requires large retail, food service, and hospitality employers to give 14 days notice of schedules, pay extra for late shift changes, and provide a 10-hour rest period between shifts.
• Rewrites the legal test for who counts as an independent contractor versus an employee, shifting the burden to employers to prove independent contractor status.
• Repeals several existing state laws that historically blocked collective bargaining or restricted strikes by public employees and firefighters.

Private-sector employees and employers not covered by federal labor law, warehouse workers subject to automated productivity tracking, large retail, food service, and hospitality businesses and their hourly workers, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and trucking industries, public employees and firefighters affected by repealed strike and bargaining restrictions, and contractors on public works projects.

Georgia workers not covered by federal labor law would gain new organizing and bargaining rights and stronger job security through a just cause firing standard, while employers in several industries would face new scheduling rules, wage boards, and prevailing wage requirements on public contracts, changing how they hire, schedule, and discipline workers.

• Section 1-1 creates Code Section 34-11-4, giving covered employees the right to organize and bargain collectively and barring employer retaliation for union activity, picketing, or strikes.
• Section 1-1 creates Code Section 34-11-6, requiring warehouse employers using automated quotas to disclose them in writing and barring quotas that block meal, rest, or restroom breaks.
• Section 1-1 creates six worker standards boards (Code Sections 34-11-7 through 34-11-12) with employee, employer, and public members that meet quarterly and recommend wage and safety standards.
• Section 1-1 creates Code Section 34-11-13, allowing the Department of Labor to fine employers up to $5,000 per day for willful violations of the new chapter.
• Section 2-2 rewrites Code Section 34-7-1 to require just cause before firing an employee, replacing the current at-will termination rule.
• Section 2-3 creates Code Section 34-7-5.1, requiring 14-day advance scheduling, predictability pay for late shift changes, and a 10-hour rest period in large retail, food service, and hospitality businesses.
• Section 2-5 rewrites the independent contractor test in Code Section 34-9-2, presuming a worker is an employee unless the hiring entity proves independence, outside-course-of-business work, and an established independent trade.
• Section 3-6 adds a prevailing wage requirement to Code Section 50-5-72 for public works contracts over $25,000, based on local collective bargaining agreements.

1. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-03House Hopper (House)

• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)Primary sponsor
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• Billy Mitchell (D, HD-088)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)

• labor unions
• worker rights
• at-will employment
• collective bargaining
• independent contractor status