Georgia CommonsHB 16: Labor and industrial relations; protections for warehouse distribution center workers; provide
Last action January 15, 2025 · House Second Readers
House Bill 16 would create a new Georgia law protecting warehouse and distribution center workers from unsafe production quotas, giving them rights to paid breaks, safety training, and information about how their work speed is tracked.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia currently has no state law specifically governing production quotas or electronic monitoring of warehouse workers. HB16 would add a new chapter to Georgia's labor code, the 'Warehouse Worker Protection Act,' covering employees at warehouses, distribution centers, and similar facilities identified by federal industry codes. The bill would require employers to give workers written explanations of any quota they must meet and how their performance is tracked, ban quotas that interfere with bathroom breaks, safety rules, or legally required accommodations, and require at least 15 minutes of paid rest every four hours. It would limit how employers can use employee work speed data, require record-keeping and access rights for current and former employees, require safety notices and training, and prohibit retaliation against workers who assert these rights. The Department of Labor would investigate complaints, issue fines up to $5,000 per violation, and workers could also sue in superior court. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Creates a new chapter of Georgia law, the 'Warehouse Worker Protection Act,' covering employees at warehouses, distribution centers, and similar facilities defined by federal industry codes.
- Requires employers to give covered employees a written, plain-language description of any production quota and how their work speed is monitored, including any electronic surveillance used.
- Bans quotas that block legally required breaks, safety compliance, bathroom access, or disability accommodations, or that are based only on ranking workers against each other.
- Requires employers to provide at least 15 minutes of paid rest every four hours and annual safety training on ergonomics and injury reporting.
- Limits how employers can collect, use, or share data tracking how fast employees work, and gives employees the right to review, correct, and request copies of that data.
- Lets the Department of Labor investigate complaints and fine employers up to $2,000 per violation (up to $5,000 for serious or repeated violations), and lets workers sue in superior court for retaliation.
Who it affects
Warehouse and distribution center employees in Georgia, including those placed by staffing agencies or subcontractors, and the companies that operate warehouses, distribution centers, wholesale operations, e-commerce fulfillment centers, and courier or delivery services. The Georgia Department of Labor would also gain new enforcement duties.
Why it matters
Warehouse workers subject to production quotas would gain new legal protections, including guaranteed paid breaks, limits on invasive performance tracking, and a way to challenge unsafe or opaque quotas. Employers in this industry would face new disclosure, record-keeping, and training obligations, plus potential fines for violations.
Key provisions
- Section 34-11-2 defines key terms including 'quota,' 'employee work speed data,' 'workplace surveillance,' and 'warehouse distribution center,' tying the last to specific federal industry classification codes.
- Section 34-11-3 requires employers to give covered employees a written quota description upon hire, by July 1, 2025, before any quota change, and before disciplining an employee for missing a quota.
- Section 34-11-4 prohibits quotas that block legally required breaks, safety rules, bathroom access, or accommodations, and bans quotas based solely on ranking employees against each other.
- Section 34-11-5 requires at least 15 minutes of paid rest every four hours and annual safety and ergonomics training, with initial training due by July 1, 2025.
- Section 34-11-7 and 34-11-8 require employers to keep work speed and quota records for at least three years after an employee leaves and give current and former employees free access to those records within set deadlines.
- Section 34-11-10 bars retaliation against workers who assert rights under the chapter and creates a 90-day rebuttable presumption of retaliation if discipline follows a protected complaint.
- Section 34-11-12 lets the Commissioner of Labor fine employers up to $2,000 per violation, or up to $5,000 for serious, willful, or repeated violations, with appeal rights through an administrative law judge.
- The Act would take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature or becoming law without signature (Section 2).
From the bill
“A covered employer shall provide to each covered employee not less than one 15 minute paid break time every four hours of work, to be paid at the regular rate at which the covered employee is employed.”
“The Commissioner shall have the authority to impose an assessment of up to $2,000.00 for each and every act in violation of this chapter”
“A covered employer shall not discharge, retaliate, discriminate, or take an adverse employment action against a covered employee for exercising or for being perceived as exercising a right conferred under this chapter.”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
- Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
- Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)
- Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
- Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)
Topics
- warehouse worker rights
- workplace surveillance
- labor law
- employee safety
- Georgia Department of Labor