Laws to Protect Minimum Amount People Can Earn at Work

There are many different types of businesses in Georgia that provide many different products and services to the people of the state. These businesses also provide many jobs as they need employees to sell their products and services to the public. As the businesses vary, the jobs at the various businesses vary as well. While there are many different types of jobs that people work, there are some similarities among most types of jobs.

One of those similarities is that the various businesses must follow the wage and hour laws within the state. The federal minimum wage laws do differ from the state laws in some ways though.

Basics of Georgia Wage and Hour Laws

As a general rule at a minimum all employees within Georgia must be paid $5.15 per hour. However, the federal minimum wage is higher than that and many employers in Georgia are required to follow those minimum wage laws. In addition to the minimum wage, employees who work over 40 hours in a week must be paid time and a half for the hours they worked over 40 hours. This is what the federal laws state as well.

There are also a number of exceptions to the minimum wage laws in Georgia. These exceptions include employees of businesses which have $40,000 worth of sales or less per year, those with five employees or less, farm workers, high school and college students, employees who earn tips, newspaper carriers and others are also exempt.

It is important that employees in Georgia earn enough money to live off of and to help ensure that occurs, there are minimum wage and overtime laws to provide a minimum amount workers must be paid. However, there are some employees that are not paid the minimum wage or overtime they are entitled to. If this occurs, they may be able to initiate a lawsuit to recover the wages they should have earned in addition to other damages. Experienced attorneys understand the importance of these laws and may be able to help protect one’s rights.