Work · Paid sick leave
Paid Sick Leave Law in Georgia
Whether an employer in Georgia must provide paid sick leave, how much you accrue, who is covered, and whether a city ordinance fills the gap where the state has no mandate. Cited to the statute.
What the paid sick leave law requires in Georgia
Who must provide it, how leave accrues and caps, and the workers the rule does not reach.
Georgia’s Family Care Act was made permanent in 2023 when an earlier sunset provision was removed, so older sources describing a 2023 expiry are stale. This entry was verified from the Justia mirror because Georgia publishes no fetchable free official HTML code. Confirm the current text of §§ 34-1-10 and 34-4-3.1 before relying on it.
| What the law requires | What it means |
|---|---|
| No requirement to offer sick leave | O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(b) states in terms that nothing in the Code section requires an employer to offer sick leave. Georgia sets no accrual rate and no cap. Any paid sick leave a worker has comes from the employer’s own policy or a contract. |
| The family-care overlay | If an employer of 25 or more already provides sick leave, the Family Care Act lets an eligible employee use up to five days of that earned leave each calendar year to care for an immediate family member. It repurposes leave the worker already has, rather than creating new leave. |
| Who is covered | O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(a) defines an employer as one with 25 or more employees and an eligible employee as one who works at least 30 hours per week. Immediate family covers a child, spouse, grandchild, grandparent, or parent, plus any dependents on the employee’s most recent tax return. |
| The employer’s policy governs the mechanics | O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(c) requires an employee using such leave to follow the employer’s own sick leave policy, and an employee is not entitled to use leave under the section until it has been earned under that policy. |
| Where it does not apply | What it means |
|---|---|
| Employee stock ownership plans | O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(e) provides that the Code section does not apply to an employer that offers its employees an employee stock ownership plan within the federal tax meaning of that term. |
| No new cause of action | O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(d) states that nothing in the section creates a new cause of action against an employer, so the family-care right exists but the statute supplies no private remedy of its own. |
| Local governments may cover their own staff | O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3.1 lets a local government offer its own employees employment benefits and set their schedules, even though it may not impose such requirements on private employers. Regulating the hours a business may operate is also left untouched. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps around sick leave in Georgia. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Read the employer policy
Because state law sets no minimum, your paid sick leave in Georgia comes from the company policy. Check the handbook or offer letter for accrual, carryover, and payout terms.
- Know the family-care right if you qualify
If your employer has 25 or more workers and already gives sick leave, you may use up to five days of it each year to care for a child, spouse, grandchild, grandparent, parent, or tax dependent. It must be leave you have already earned.
- Do not expect a local ordinance
A Georgia city cannot require private employers to provide paid sick leave, because O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3.1 preempts local benefit mandates. If someone points you to a local rule, confirm it applies to private employers.
- Use federal unpaid leave if eligible
If you and your employer are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, you may take job-protected but unpaid leave for a serious health condition. That is separate from any paid policy.
If you were denied leave the law provides, the state labor department takes complaints and can explain the accrual rules and any penalty. Where the state has no mandate, check your city.
→ Georgia Department of LaborThis is general legal information, not legal advice. Accrual, caps, and city ordinances turn on employer size and location, so confirm your situation against the statute.
What workers in Georgia get wrong about paid sick leave
Georgia does not require any employer to provide paid sick leave, and it says so inside the very statute people mistake for a mandate. O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10, the Georgia Family Care Act, sets no accrual rate and no cap and states in subsection (b) that nothing in it requires an employer to offer sick leave. What the act actually does is narrow. If an employer of 25 or more already provides paid sick leave, an employee who works at least 30 hours a week may use up to five days of that earned leave each calendar year to care for an immediate family member, meaning a child, spouse, grandchild, grandparent, parent, or tax dependent. The act was made permanent in 2023 after an earlier sunset date was removed. Georgia also preempts local ordinances outright. O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3.1 bars any wage or employment benefit mandate adopted by a local government, and it names paid sick days among the covered benefits, so a Georgia city cannot require private employers to provide paid sick leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act still applies to larger employers, but it is unpaid.
Common questions
Does Georgia require paid sick leave?
No. Georgia has no law requiring a private employer to provide paid sick leave, and O.C.G.A. § 34-1-10(b) says so in terms. Any paid sick leave a Georgia worker has comes from the employer’s own policy or a contract.
What does the Georgia Family Care Act actually require?
If an employer of 25 or more already provides sick leave, an eligible employee may use up to five days of that earned leave each year to care for an immediate family member. It does not require any employer to offer sick leave in the first place.
Who can I use family-care leave for in Georgia?
The act covers a child, spouse, grandchild, grandparent, or parent, plus any dependents on your most recent tax return. Siblings, in-laws, and unrelated household members are not on the list.
Can a Georgia city require paid sick leave?
No. O.C.G.A. § 34-4-3.1 preempts any local wage or employment benefit mandate, and its definition of employment benefits names paid sick days. A local paid-sick-leave mandate for private employers is barred.
Does the Georgia Family Care Act still expire?
No. Every version through the 2022 Code carried a repeal date, but a 2023 amendment removed it and made the act permanent. Sources still describing a 2023 expiry are out of date.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.