The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is fighting a Gainesville, Georgia, magistrate judge’s recommendation that would restrict its new regional worker-safety program aimed at poultry processing facilities.
Articles Discussing Human Resource Topics In Georgia.
New Georgia Law Says Franchisors Generally Not Employers of Franchisees or Franchisees’ Workers
The “Protecting Georgia Small Businesses Act” amends Georgia’s Labor and Industrial Relations Code to provide that neither a franchisee nor a franchisee’s employee is considered an employee of a franchisor for “any purpose.” However, the amendment does not apply to the Georgia Workers’ Compensation Code. The Act goes into effect on January 1, 2017.
Georgia Minimum Wage Law Applies to Employees Exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act, State High Court Rules
In-home personal care employees in Georgia were covered by the state’s minimum wage law, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled, notwithstanding the fact that those employees were exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Anderson v. Southern Home Care Services, et al., No. S15Q1127 (Nov. 23, 2015).
Change in Georgia’s First Offender Act Facilitating Employment to be Applied Retroactively
Legislation overhauling Georgia’s probation system also affects Georgia’s First Offender Act (“GFOA”) (O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 et seq.), which protects certain criminal defendants from being disqualified from consideration for employment based on their criminal record.
Georgia Garnishment Ruling Modified by Judge, No Longer Applies to Wages
Revising his September 8 decision that Georgia’s garnishment statute is unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob has issued an order stating that his ruling does not apply to wage garnishment cases filed against a judgment debtor’s employer. Strickland v. Alexander, No. 1:12-CV-02735-MHS (N.D. Ga. Oct. 5, 2015).
Georgia Wage Garnishments Resume after Revised Order
Executive Summary: Nearly one month after Federal Judge Marvin Shoob, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, ruled that Georgia’s garnishment law is unconstitutional, on Monday, October 5, 2015, Judge Shoob issued an amended order in which he narrowed his original order and ruled that wage garnishments are permitted in Gwinnett County. Strickland v. Alexander, No. 1:12-CV-02735 (N.D. Ga. Oct. 5th, 2015).
Return to Sender: The Boomerang of Garnishment Checks Back to Georgia Employers
Executive Summary: Across Georgia, employers are opening their mailboxes to discover that courts have returned checks that employers previously submitted to satisfy garnishment actions. This is the result of decisions by many courts across Georgia to stop accepting garnishment checks in light of a decision issued by Judge Marvin Shoob of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in which Judge Shoob ruled that Georgia’s garnishment law is unconstitutional. Strickland v. Alexander, No. 1:12-CV-02735 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 8, 2015).
Georgia’s Garnishment Law on Shaky Ground
Georgia’s garnishment statute is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Atlanta has held in Strickland v. Alexander, No. 1:12-CV-02735-MHS (N.D. Ga. Sept. 8, 2015), putting the future of state garnishment cases in doubt.
U.S. District Court Declares Georgia Wage Garnishment Statute Unconstitutional
On September 8, 2015, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered an Order declaring Georgia’s post-judgment garnishment statue, O.C.G.A. § 18-4-60 et seq., unconstitutional. Strickland v. Alexander, Civil Action No. 1:12-CV-02735-MHS (N.D. Ga. Sept. 8, 2015) (granting plaintiff’s summary judgment motion). The basis for the court’s decision was that the garnishment statute fails to give debtors adequate notice about (1) what types of property may be exempt from garnishment under state and federal law and (2) the procedures for claiming available exemptions. The court also held that the statute violates due process rights because it fails to provide for a “prompt and expeditious” process for resolving exemption claims. As a result of this Order, Gwinnett County courts have been enjoined from issuing any garnishment summons until further notice.
New Georgia Law Permits Use of Payroll Cards
Georgia employers now may pay employees through the use of payroll card accounts under a law signed by Governor Nathan Deal on May 5, 2015. The new law is effective immediately.
Georgia’s Medical Marijuana Law Includes No Employment-Discrimination Protection
Georgia has become the 24th state to enact a medical marijuana law.
On April 16, 2015, Governor Nathan Deal signed legislation immediately legalizing the use of a low-potency form of cannabis oil for medicinal uses. However, unlike many other medical marijuana laws enacted recently, the Georgia law contains no language protecting medical marijuana users from employment discrimination. Indeed, the law provides considerable protections for employers from employees reporting to work or remaining on duty after consuming the drug. It states: “Nothing in this article shall require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale or growing of marijuana in any form, or to affect the ability of an employer to have a written zero tolerance policy prohibiting the on-duty, and off-duty, use of marijuana, or prohibiting any employee from having a detectable amount of marijuana in such employee’s system while at work.”
Georgia Becomes 26th Jurisdiction to Decriminalize Medical Marijuana
With the enactment of “Haleigh’s Hope Act” on Thursday, April 16, 2015, Georgia became the 26th jurisdiction to decriminalize medical marijuana use. The Act, which became effectively immediately upon signature by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, legalizes such use under Georgia law in connection with nine specified medical conditions, including end-stage cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, mitochondrial disease, Parkinson’s, and sickle cell disease.
Georgia Employers Can Still Ban Guns on Private Premises Despite New ‘Guns Everywhere Law’
Under the Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014, government buildings, schools, churches, and bars are no long excluded from the list of places where licensed persons may legally carry firearms. Signed on April 23, 2014, by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, the new law, House Bill 60 (also known as the “Guns Everywhere Bill”), goes into effect July 1, 2014.
New Georgia Law Limits Employer Liability for Hiring Workers with Criminal Background
A new law in Georgia protects employers from negligent hiring and retention claims by creating a presumption of “due care” for hiring and employing individuals with criminal backgrounds who have received a “Program and Treatment Completion Certificate” from the Department of Corrections or a grant of pardon from the State Board of Pardons and Parole. Governor Nathan Deal signed Senate Bill 365 on April 13, 2014. The law is due to take effect on July 1, 2014; however, no timeline has been released for the Department of Corrections to implement the new certificate program.
Georgia Employers Face More Aggressive Immigration Compliance Requirements Effective July 1, 2013
Executive Summary: Yet another domino has fallen in the changing landscape of immigration law.