Hello everyone, I've been looking into labors laws for Georgia, now that I'm in a predicament:
After a month of looking for a job (after leaving my old one), I found a restaurant needing a saute cook. I applied and got the job instantly, which made me happy. However the executive chef did say that they don't pay over time EVEN if I hit over 40 hours a week (they don't pay time and a half). I asked why and he wouldn't answer me. I've talked to many people and some said 'because it's a sole proprietorship, non-exempt employee's aren't required overtime pay and others have told me Georgia employers do NOT have to pay you time and a half for over time but still required to pay the regular hourly wage.

like I said before I get paid hourly as a non-exempt employee (and I work over 40 hours a week) and I can't find ANY statement saying Georgia is exempt from paying overtime. All I see from reading dol is that Georgia is required to. I don't know who's right.

Georgia does not have its own laws about overtime, but employers there must follow federal law.

It is possible for a business to be exempt from complying with federal laws requiring overtime. A restaurant would have a difficult time being one unless it has revenue of under $500K, does not take credit cards and buys all of its goods in state.

Agree with ScottB. The fact that the business is a sole proprietorship is irrelevant.
Unfortunately, the Georgia Dept. of Labor is not going to be any help here. You would need to either file a small claims suit or file a claim for unpaid overtime with the federal Dept. of Labor.