ATLANTA — The new legislative session in Georgia is kicking into gear, and with that, there are no efforts to boost the state's minimum wage.
One of those is H.B. 245, which would change a current provision in Georgia law that prevents local governments in the state from setting their own minimum wages. This bill wouldn't result in a statewide increase in the minimum wage law but would see it increase in many places with local governments that would like to raise the minimum wage.
The other is H.B. 241, which would provide for an increase in the state minimum wage across the board from $5.15 to $15 an hour.
Both bills are backed by Democrats - and the legislature is controlled by Republicans, meaning it's unclear what kind of real chance these bills have of getting passed.
But it raises the question: Just what is the context for that current $5.15 an hour figure?
THE QUESTION
Is Georgia's state minimum wage lower than that of most other states?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, Georgia has a lower minimum wage than most states, even when you account for other contextual factors.
WHAT WE FOUND
First, there's the state minimum wage. It's $5.15 an hour, and its particulars are laid out in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (the book of state laws, basically) in Title 34-Chapter 4.
Moving on, we can see where that ranks relative to other states at the U.S. Department of Labor site. The map there shows there are five states with no minimum wage whatsoever - Georgia, obviously, ranks ahead of them - and then that Georgia is one of two states with a lower minimum wage than the federal figure of $7.25 an hour.
That would rank Georgia tied for 45th in the nation, with Wyoming, which also has a $5.15 minimum wage.
However, there's some additional context there.
As the U.S. DOL's consolidated minimum wage table shows, Georgia is actually lumped in with 14 other states and the Northern Mariana Islands territory as having the equivalent of the federal $7.25 minimum wage.
That's because the Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the $7.25 federal minimum wage ahead of a state minimum wage that is lower, or nonexistent as in the case of five states.
Even acknowledging that, however, 30 states plus Washington D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have already legislated a higher minimum wage than the federal $7.25 figure. That puts Georgia in the back half even with the $7.25 applying.
So, would anyone actually make the $5.15 minimum wage in Georgia? In theory, yes.
There are several exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage - mostly, they're pretty specific and narrowly tied to irregular employment, such as babysitters and newspaper delivery people. But there are also provisions where workers with disabilities or some people who work as companions with elderly people, for instance, that can apply to many people.
In those instances, they may be subject to Georgia's $5.15 minimum wage unless they're also exempted from the state law.
The state law lays out the following exemptions:
- Any employer that has sales of $40,000.00 per year or less;
- Any employer having five employees or less;
- Any employer of domestic employees;
- Any employer who is a farm owner, sharecropper, or land renter;
- Any employee whose compensation consists wholly or partially of gratuities;
- Any employee who is a high school or college student;
- Any individual who is employed as a newspaper carrier; or
- 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.
If someone's job were to be exempt under both the federal and Georgia laws, it would have no minimum wage protections.
So while the federal law provides for $7.25 an hour in most cases for Georgia workers, there are "limited exceptions" - according to the state DOL - and potential additional state exemptions for some specific situations that could result in no minimum at all.
Basically, any way you slice it, the minimum wage in Georgia is behind that of most other states.