Georgia Law Now Permits Wage Payment by Payroll Card
Author: Ashley Shaw, XpertHR Legal Editor
May 15, 2015
Effective immediately, the Georgia wage payment law has been amended to permit employers in the state to pay employees by payroll card in addition to cash, check and direct deposit. Use of this additional method of wage payment may help many employers to not only reduce payroll administrative costs, but also to provide a convenient and secure, paperless wage payment option to employees who are unbanked - those who either do not have a bank account or whose bank account does not qualify to receive direct deposits.
The new law defines a payroll card account as an account that:
- Is directly or indirectly established through an employer (i.e., a person, firm or corporation); and
- Makes electronic fund transfers of salary or wages at regularly recurring intervals.
A payroll card account may be managed by the employer offering the program to its employees, a bank or a third-party payroll processor on the employer's behalf.
Employers that would like to offer a payroll card program in addition to other wage payment methods must first comply with all of the following requirements:
- Give new employees a written explanation of any associated fees along with an opt-out form when they are hired;
- Give current employees the written explanation of fees and opt-out form at least 30 days before the employer's program begins;
- Make the opt-out form generally available to all employees; and
- Allow employees to opt out of the payroll card program by providing the employer with a written request to receive payment by check, or by completing and submitting to the employer the requisite direct deposit enrollment authorization forms.
