Federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 Per Hour Remains Standard in Georgia, Overriding State's $5.15 Rate
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour continues to be the effective standard for nearly all employees in Georgia, despite the state's own statute setting a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. This discrepancy arises because the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandates that the higher of the two rates applies where both federal and state laws are in effect. The FLSA covers enterprises with $500,000 or more in annual sales and any employee engaged in interstate commerce, which broadly includes activities like handling goods from other states or processing credit card payments. Consequently, most businesses in Georgia fall under federal jurisdiction, making the $7.25 federal rate the prevailing minimum. The state's $5.15 rate, which has not changed since 2001, only applies in rare instances where an employer is not covered by the FLSA, such as very small, purely local businesses with fewer than six employees or annual sales of $40,000 or less. For tipped employees in Georgia, federal rules also apply...
