On May 1, 2025, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the Dignity and Pay Act (the Act). The Act, which takes effect on July 1, 2025, prohibits the previously lawful practice of paying individuals with disabilities less than minimum wage in certain circumstances.

Previously, Georgia law permitted the Georgia Commissioner of Labor to grant employers an exemption to pay “certain classes of persons…at rates below the minimum rate because of overriding considerations of public policy to allow employment of certain persons with disabilities and others who cannot otherwise compete effectively in the labor market.” The Act repeals that law and further prohibits employers from using certificates issued under 29 U.S.C. § 214(c) by the United States Department of Labor that permit the same practice for federal minimum wage purposes for individuals “whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury.”Continue Reading Georgia enacts Dignity and Pay Act prohibiting subminimum wage for workers with disabilities