--- title: HB 395. Labor and industrial relations; minimum wage; provide for an increase collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb395 cite_as: HB 395, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb395 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb395.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb395/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70196 date: 2025-02-13 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb394.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb396.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb395.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 395 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-11 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Dewey McClain - Carolyn Hugley - Kimberly Alexander - Sheila Jones - Derrick Jackson - Gabriel Sanchez text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB395/2025 upstream_id: 1965838 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - minimum wage - labor law - tipped workers - small business regulation - wage exemptions --- # HB 395. Labor and industrial relations; minimum wage; provide for an increase ## Text House Bill 395 By: Representatives McClain of the 109th, Hugley of the 141st, Alexander of the 66th, Jones of the 60th, Jackson of the 68th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 4 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to minimum wage law, so as to provide for an increase in the minimum wage; to provide a credit toward the minimum wage for employers of tipped workers; to eliminate various eligibility exemptions from the minimum wage; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Chapter 4 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to minimum wage law, is amended by revising Code Section 34-4-3, relating to amount of minimum wage to be paid by employers and employers and employees covered by chapter, as follows: "34-4-3. (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 $15.00 per hour for each hour worked in the employment of such employer. (b) Employers of employees that meet the eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 203(t), may credit tips toward the satisfaction of up to 50 percent of the minimum wage provided by this Code section. (b)(c) This chapter shall not apply with respect to: (1) Any employer that has sales of $40,000.00 $100,000.00 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)(3) Any employee who is a high school or college student; (7)(4) Any individual who is employed as a newspaper carrier; or (8)(5) 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 $15,000.00. (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." SECTION 2. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2026. SECTION 3. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House bill would raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $15.00 an hour, let employers count tips toward part of that wage, and remove several groups' exemptions from minimum wage coverage. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's minimum wage law currently sets a base rate of $5.15 per hour, far below the federal minimum wage that already applies to most workers. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3) to set the state minimum wage at $15.00 per hour. It also creates a new tip credit: employers of tipped workers who qualify under federal wage law can count up to 50 percent of an employee's tips toward meeting the $15.00 minimum. The bill also changes who is exempt from the law. It raises the small-business sales exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 in yearly sales, keeps the exemption for employers with five or fewer employees, and removes exemptions that previously applied to domestic workers, farm owners and sharecroppers, and tipped employees generally. It also removes a provision that exempted employers already covered by a higher federal minimum wage. The changes would take effect January 1, 2026. ### What it does - Raises Georgia's minimum wage from $5.15 to $15.00 per hour under O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3. - Creates a new tip credit letting qualifying employers count up to 50 percent of tips toward the $15.00 minimum wage. - Raises the small-business exemption threshold from $40,000 to $100,000 in annual sales. - Removes minimum wage exemptions previously covering domestic employees, farm owners, sharecroppers, land renters, and employees paid mainly through tips. - Removes the exemption for employers already covered by a higher federal minimum wage requirement. - Raises the pay threshold for exempt nonprofit institutional workers (child-caring or long-term care facilities) from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. ### Who it affects Georgia workers currently paid the state minimum wage or tips, including domestic workers, farm laborers, and tipped restaurant and service employees who previously fell outside the law's coverage. Small businesses, farm owners, and nonprofit child-care or long-term care facilities that employ workers under these rules would also be affected. ### Why it matters Workers earning close to Georgia's current $5.15 floor could see a large pay increase to $15.00 an hour, while tipped workers' wages would depend partly on tips under the new credit. Small businesses near the sales threshold and previously exempt employers like farms and households would face new wage obligations. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3 to set the minimum wage at $15.00 per hour, replacing the previous $5.15 rate. - Section 1 adds a new subsection allowing a tip credit of up to 50 percent of the minimum wage for employers of eligible tipped workers under federal law. - Section 1 raises the small-business exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 in annual sales and keeps the five-employee exemption. - Section 1 eliminates exemptions for domestic employees, farm owners, sharecroppers, land renters, and tipped employees generally. - Section 1 raises the pay floor for exempt nonprofit institutional workers from $10,000 to $15,000 annually. - Section 1 removes the prior exemption for employers already subject to a higher federal minimum wage. - Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026. - Section 3 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-11) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-13) - Sponsors: Dewey McClain, Carolyn Hugley, Kimberly Alexander, Sheila Jones, Derrick Jackson, Gabriel Sanchez - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70196 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb395.md?full=1