1. House Bill 97
House Bill 97 was filed on January 31 of this year and assigned to the House Committee on Industrial Relations. The purpose of this bill is to reform the state's minimum wage law, which is currently lower than the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
H.B. 97 would increase the statewide minimum wage to $15 and increase it concurrently with increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. Tip credit would be 50% of the minimum wage.
There are exemptions from the state minimum wage for companies with $50,000 or less per year in profits, companies with 5 or fewer employees, high school and college students, and newspaper carriers. However, farmers, sharecroppers, land renters, and employers of domestic employees would lose their previous exemptions.
2. Senate Bill 7
Senate Bill 7 was filed on January 24th of this year and was referred to the Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor. This bill would bar any award of workers compensation benefits to employees who were not lawfully admitted to the country at the time of the injury.
The bill would prevent payment of both lost wages and medical expenses. No payment would be made to aliens unless they were present in the United States legally at the time the payments would be made. The bill would add a requirement for workers compensation claimants to document the legality of their presence in the country. Current law does not prohibit illegal workers from collecting benefits.
It is believed there is an incentive basis for creating this law, as it will make the state less attractive to illegal workers. Employers should be concerned with the possibility of I-9 violations if a workers is denied benefits due to being an illegal worker.
3. Vicarious Employer Liability
The Georgia Court of Appeals decided the case of B-T Two Inc., V. Bennett, affirming that the employer was not responsible for the actions of his employee.
At a party for a manager of the company, an employee of the company got into an altercation with the claimant. The claimant indicated that the company was responsible for sponsoring the party and liable for his injuries.
The Georgia Court of Appeals noted that Buffalo's did not own or lease the house where the party was held, nor did the company pay for any of the expenses, provide food or alcohol, receive revenue, or place any promotional materials at the party.
Beyond that, the Georgia Court of Appeals stated that the general rule regarding vicarious liability is whether or not the employee was acting in the scope of his or her employer's business at the time. Given that the assailant in the case was not attending the party in connection with his employment, the Court indicated there was no evidence to show that the assault was in the scope of employment.
The take-away here is that the general rule for vicarious liability is limited to when the employee is acting within the scope of his or her employment.
4. Classification of Workers - FLSA
In the case of Williams v. Gold Car Lending, Inc. a Georgia court rejected the employer's assertion that the employees were outside sales and thus exempt from overtime provisions.
In this case, the employer attempted to classify the employees as outside sales, although their sales responsibilities were rarely equal to other responsibilities, which included collections, washing cars, transferring cars, making deposits, and similar duties.
It is important to realize that titles and classifications are less important than the actual duties an employee completes. A thorough review of positions and their duties is necessary, along with a compensation review, in order to determine if an exemption actually exists. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
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