State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) filed legislation recently that he believes is necessary to protect businesses’ rights and ensure that Georgia remains the No. 1 state in the country to do business. Senate Bill 331, the Protecting Georgia Businesses and Workers Act, provides that “no local government entity may adopt, maintain, or enforce by charter, ordinance, purchase agreement, contract, regulation, rule, or resolution the hours or scheduling that an employer is required to provide employees or otherwise regulate employee output during work hours.”
State Sen. John Albers
The bill goes on to say that “Nothing in the subsection of the bill shall prohibit a local government entity from regulating or limiting the hours a business may operate.”
“Radical socialists on the West Coast and in the Northeast are currently passing local labor laws that are pushing unionization,” said Albers. “And we must ensure this doesn’t happen in Georgia. This would destroy our ability to remain the No. 1 State to do business.”
Albers said some local governments in these other states are creating and enforcing their own labor laws. “For example, they are saying if a person in hospitality cleans more than 1,000 square feet of area in one day, they have to be paid double time, or if they clear more than 1,500 square feet they have to be paid three times the pay.”
SB 331 would prohibit any city or county in Georgia from implementing local labor laws.
“These local labor laws are pushing unionization, and we want to make sure this doesn’t happen in Georgia,” said Albers. “We want to ensure in Georgia that the labor laws we follow are state and federal laws – not local labor laws.”
Georgia is a ‘Right To Work’ state, but Albers says this would not stop this type of push for unionization. That’s why he is introducing the legislation – “to protect Georgia businesses and workers.”
Albers said he has met with many business organizations, including chambers of commerce across the state, and has their support for this legislation.
SB 331 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Insurance. A number of powerful players in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors including Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), Sen Majority Leader Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), Pro Tem Butch Miller (R-Gainesville), Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), Sen. Steve Gooch(R-Dahlonega) and Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele).
