---
title: SB 273. Minimum Wage; certain provisions regarding the minimum wage law; revise
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb273
cite_as: SB 273, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb273
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb273.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb273/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70911
date: 2025-02-27
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/sb272.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb274.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb273.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 273
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-26
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Kenya Wicks
  - Harold Jones
  - Kim Jackson
  - Elena Parent
  - Nan Orrock
  - Nikki Merritt
  - Ed Harbison
  - Sheikh Rahman
  - David Lucas
  - Josh McLaurin
  - RaShaun Kemp
  - Sally Harrell
  - Gail Davenport
  - Donzella James
  - Freddie Sims
  - Michael Rhett
  - Derek Mallow
  - Randal Mangham
  - Tonya Anderson
  - Nabilah Islam Parkes
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB273/2025
upstream_id: 1986167
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - minimum wage
  - labor law
  - tipped workers
  - small business regulation
  - cost of living
---

# SB 273. Minimum Wage; certain provisions regarding the minimum wage law; revise

## Text

Senate Bill 273
By: Senators Wicks of the 34th, Jones II of the 22nd, Jackson of the 41st, Parent of the 44th,
Orrock of the 36th 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, so as to revise certain provisions regarding the minimum wage law; to
provide for an increase in the minimum wage; to provide for annual minimum wage
increases to match the rising cost of living; 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,
is amended by revising Code Section 34-4-3, relating to amount of minimum wage to be paid
by employers, as follows:
"34-4-3.
<ins>(a)(1)</ins> 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 <del>$5.15</del> <ins>$22.00</ins> per hour for each hour worked in the employment of
such employer.
<ins>(2)(A) On January 1, 2026, and on January 1 of each successive year thereafter, the
minimum wage shall be adjusted upward to reflect the increase in the cost of living, if
any, as determined by the Georgia Department of Labor pursuant to subparagraph (B)
of this paragraph.
(B) On September 30, 2025, and on September 30 of each year thereafter, the Georgia
Department of Labor shall measure any change or note the lack of change in the cost
of living from the preceding July over July of the immediately preceding year. In
making such determination, the Georgia Department of Labor may utilize the
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers or such successor
index as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department
of Labor or its successor agency.
(C) Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated pursuant to subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph shall be published and shall take effect on the following January 1 of each
successive year.
(b) Employers of employees who meet the eligibility requirements for the tip credit under
the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 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.
</ins> <del>(b)(c)</del> This chapter shall not apply <del>with respect</del> to:
(1) Any employer that has sales of <del>$40,000.00</del> <ins>$50,000.00</ins> per year or less;
(2) Any employer having five employees or less;
<del>(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)</del> Any employee who is a high school or college student;
<del>(7)(4)</del> Any individual who is employed as a newspaper carrier; or
<del>(8)(5)</del> 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 <del>$10,000.00</del> <ins>$15,000.00.
(c)(d)</ins> 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 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.

### Plain-language summary

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 it 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

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-26)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-27)
- Sponsors: Kenya Wicks, Harold Jones, Kim Jackson, Elena Parent, Nan Orrock, Nikki Merritt, Ed Harbison, Sheikh Rahman, David Lucas, Josh McLaurin, RaShaun Kemp, Sally Harrell, Gail Davenport, Donzella James, Freddie Sims, Michael Rhett, Derek Mallow, Randal Mangham, Tonya Anderson, Nabilah Islam Parkes
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70911

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb273.md?full=1