HB 914: Commissioner of Labor; ensure certain employees receive comparable pay for comparable work in jobs which require comparable skill, effort, and responsibility; authorize

Georgia law already says employees should get comparable pay for comparable work requiring comparable skill, effort, and responsibility, under Chapter 5 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Currently the Commissioner of Labor's role is mostly to assist employers with complying and to resolve problems through conference and persuasion. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 34-5-4 to make the Commissioner directly responsible for ensuring comparable pay, rather than just assisting employers. It lets the Commissioner or staff review any employer's operations, question employers or employees, and gather information needed to enforce the law. It also creates a formal enforcement process: informal fixes can be written into a signed consent order, and if that fails, the Commissioner can issue an administrative order requiring corrective action. A person who does not request a hearing within 30 days is bound by that order. After a hearing, the Commissioner can impose a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, with the process following Georgia's Administrative Procedure Act and a right to appeal in court. Fines collected go to the state treasury.

• Changes the Commissioner of Labor's role from assisting employers with equal pay compliance to directly ensuring comparable pay for comparable work.
• Authorizes the Commissioner to review any employer's operations and question employers or employees, not just workers, to enforce the equal pay law.
• Creates a written consent order process allowing the Commissioner and a violator to sign an agreement to fix a pay violation informally.
• Adds a formal administrative order process requiring corrective action, which becomes final if no hearing is requested within 30 days.
• Allows the Commissioner to impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation after a hearing, with penalties going to the state treasury.
• Sets up judicial review rights for anyone who has used up all administrative appeals and is still affected by a final order.

Georgia employers, who could be investigated, questioned, and fined for comparable pay violations; employees, whose pay comparisons the Commissioner would directly examine; and the Georgia Department of Labor, which gains new investigative and enforcement powers under the state's equal pay law.

Employers in Georgia could face direct investigations, consent orders, or fines up to $1,000 per violation if they fail to pay comparable wages for comparable work, a shift from the current system that relies mainly on assistance and voluntary conciliation with employers.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 34-5-4(a)(1) so the Commissioner must ensure comparable pay directly, replacing the prior duty to merely assist employers.
• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-5-4(a)(2) to let the Commissioner review any employer's operations and question employers or employees, not only compare workers' jobs.
• Section 1 adds language to O.C.G.A. § 34-5-4(a)(3) allowing violations resolved informally to be documented in a signed written consent order.
• Section 1 creates new O.C.G.A. § 34-5-4(d), letting the Commissioner issue administrative orders requiring corrective action within a set time.
• New subsection (d) sets a 30-day window to request a hearing before an order becomes final, and caps penalties at $1,000 per violation after a hearing.
• New subsection (d) applies the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 13 of Title 50) to hearings and appeals, and directs penalty money to the state treasury.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-12House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-04-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-04-02House Hopper (House)

• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)Primary sponsor
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)
• Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)

• equal pay
• employment law
• labor enforcement
• wage discrimination
• state labor department