State of Georgia Employee Leave Policy: Types, Holidays, and Requests

The State of Georgia employee leave policy gives full-time workers a mix of paid and unpaid time off that begins accruing on day one: annual leave, sick leave, paid parental leave, military leave, court leave, and several smaller categories, plus federal FMLA protection layered on top. Each type has its own accrual rate, cap, and rules for what happens when you separate or retire, and the differences matter — a sick leave hour and an annual leave hour are not worth the same thing when you walk out the door.

Annual Leave

Annual leave is your general-purpose paid time off. Full-time employees earn it at a rate that grows with tenure:

First 5 years: 10 hours per month (15 days per year)
Years 6 through 10: 12 hours per month (18 days per year)
After 10 years: 14 hours per month (21 days per year)

You can carry up to 360 hours from one year to the next. Anything above 360 at year’s end is forfeited. Forfeited annual leave isn’t automatically lost value, though; if you eventually retire through the state system, it can feed into your retirement service credit alongside forfeited sick leave.¹

Sick Leave

Sick leave covers your own illness, injury, or medical appointments, care for a sick immediate family member, and bereavement after a death in your immediate family. Non-temporary salaried employees who work at least 20 hours per week are eligible. Full-time employees earn 10 hours per month (or 5 hours per semi-monthly pay period, depending on your agency’s schedule); part-timers working at least 20 hours a week earn a prorated amount. You need to be in pay status for at least half your scheduled hours during the pay period to accrue that month.²

The bank tops out at 720 hours. Anything you earn above the cap moves into a forfeited status at month’s end.³ Keep tracking it anyway. Forfeited sick leave converts to retirement service credit if you retire from state service, which is often worth more than the hours themselves.

After an illness- or injury-related absence, your agency may require a medical release explaining whether you can perform the essential functions of your job, with or without a reasonable accommodation, before you return.²

Paid Parental Leave

Georgia provides up to 240 hours of paid parental leave per rolling 12-month period. It sits outside your annual and sick leave and does not reduce those balances.⁴

Qualifying events are the birth of your child, placement of a minor child for adoption, or placement of a minor child for foster care. You become eligible after six continuous months with your state employing entity, whether or not you also qualify for FMLA. Hourly employees must have logged at least 700 hours in the six months before the request.⁵

The 240-hour cap applies to the whole rolling year even if you have more than one qualifying event. You can take the leave in increments smaller than a full day. Unused parental leave expires 12 months after the qualifying event and has no cash value at separation.⁵

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

The federal FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period. Covered reasons include the birth or placement of a child, a serious health condition that keeps you from working, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, and qualifying needs tied to a family member’s military deployment. You must have worked for the state at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave starts.⁶

FMLA itself is unpaid, but you can layer accrued annual or sick leave on top of it to keep drawing a paycheck. Paid parental leave runs concurrently with FMLA when both apply. FMLA also does not have to be taken in one continuous block; when medically necessary, you can take it intermittently or on a reduced schedule.⁷

Military Leave

Georgia pays state employees their regular salary for up to 18 days per federal fiscal year of ordered military duty, covering National Guard members, Georgia State Defense Force members, and members of any U.S. Armed Forces reserve component. If the Governor declares an emergency and activates you as a National Guard member, the cap rises to 30 days. Separately, State Personnel Board rules allow up to six months of military training leave in any four-year period.⁸⁹

Federal USERRA protects your job for cumulative absences of up to five years with the same employer. When you return, you’re entitled to the position, seniority, and pay you would have reached had you not left. Reporting deadlines after service depend on how long you were away:

Under 31 days: report by the start of the next regularly scheduled work period after arriving home safely.
31 to 180 days: submit a reemployment application within 14 days.
More than 180 days: submit a reemployment application within 90 days.

Your employer cannot force you to use paid time off for military leave, though you can choose to.¹⁰

Court Leave

Jury duty and witness subpoenas trigger paid court leave that is not charged to your annual or sick balance, and you keep any juror fees or travel allowances the court pays. Provide your summons or subpoena when requesting the leave.²

Paid court leave does not cover every courtroom appearance. You won’t receive it if you are a plaintiff or defendant, appear voluntarily as a witness, testify as a paid expert witness, or are charged with a crime. Temporary and hourly employees are also ineligible. Those situations require annual leave or unpaid time.²

Other Paid Leave

Organ and Bone Marrow Donation

Organ donors receive 30 days of paid leave; bone marrow donors receive 7. Neither is charged against annual or sick leave, and both count as service time for retirement and pension calculations. You’ll need a statement from the medical practitioner or hospital confirming the donation.¹¹

Blood Donation

You can take up to 8 hours of paid leave per calendar year for donating blood, at 2 hours per donation up to four times a year. Donating platelets or granulocytes through plasmapheresis doubles the allowance to 16 hours per year at 4 hours per donation.¹²

Education Support

Full-time, non-temporary employees can take up to 8 hours of paid leave per calendar year for activities that support education: parent-teacher conferences, classroom volunteering, tutoring or mentoring, proctoring exams, and school events like field trips or award ceremonies. Public, private, and home school settings all qualify. Unused hours do not roll over and have no cash value at separation.¹³

State Holidays in 2026

Georgia state employees receive 13 paid holidays in 2026:¹⁴

New Year’s Day — Thursday, January 1
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday — Monday, January 19
State Holiday (Good Friday) — Friday, April 3
Memorial Day — Monday, May 25
Juneteenth — Friday, June 19
Independence Day — Friday, July 3
Labor Day — Monday, September 7
Columbus Day — Monday, October 12
Veterans Day — Wednesday, November 11
Thanksgiving Day — Thursday, November 26
State Holiday (Day After Thanksgiving) — Friday, November 27
Washington’s Birthday (observed) — Thursday, December 24
Christmas Day — Thursday, December 25

One quirk to know: Georgia moves the Washington’s Birthday observance from February to December 24, so employees get Christmas Eve off instead.

Leave Donation Programs

When a coworker faces a catastrophic illness or extended medical crisis, state agencies operate leave donation programs that let employees share accrued leave. Specific rules vary by agency, but the general framework requires the recipient to have exhausted their personal paid leave and to have been on approved leave without pay for a minimum period before donations kick in. Donors typically must retain at least 60 hours of their own balance after donating, and recipients can only use donated leave for the medical purpose donations were solicited for. If you think you may need donated leave, contact your agency’s HR office early; the approval steps and documentation take time.

Requesting Leave

Leave requests follow a standardized process across agencies. You submit a request (usually electronically) specifying the type of leave, dates, and duration. For planned absences, submit as far in advance as you can so your supervisor can plan around staffing needs. Supervisors have discretion to approve or deny based on workload and operational needs, and for absences longer than ten consecutive workdays outside FMLA or paid parental leave, many agencies require approval from a higher-level manager or deputy.¹⁵

Unplanned absences still need to be reported as soon as possible. Send any health-related documentation directly to your agency’s HR office rather than your supervisor to keep your medical information confidential.¹⁵

What Happens to Your Leave When You Separate

When you leave state employment for any reason, you receive a payout for accrued and unused annual leave up to 360 hours. That matches the carryover cap, so an employee holding at or near the limit gets paid for the full balance.¹⁶

Sick leave has no cash value at separation. You cannot get a check for unused sick hours if you resign or are terminated. Paid parental leave also carries no cash value.⁵

Sick Leave Converts to Retirement Service Credit

Long-tenured employees who retire through the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia can convert forfeited leave (forfeited annual, forfeited sick, and accrued sick) into additional creditable service. You need at least 960 hours of total forfeited leave to qualify, and the rate is one month of creditable service for every 160 hours. An employee retiring with 1,600 combined hours would gain 10 months of additional service credit. Your last employer must certify all forfeited leave for the credit to apply, so confirm your records are accurate well before your retirement date.¹⁷

Protections and Dispute Resolution

FMLA prohibits retaliation for taking qualified leave, and when you return you are entitled to your original position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions.⁶ USERRA guarantees reemployment rights after military service and bars discrimination based on military obligations.¹⁰

At the state level, the Employee Complaint Resolution Procedure under State Personnel Board Rule 478-1-.20 gives you a formal path to challenge leave-related disputes, including arbitrary or erroneous application of leave policies, retaliation for exercising rights under the personnel rules, and unlawful discrimination.¹⁸ Classified employees have an additional route through appeals to the Georgia State Personnel Board, with hearings conducted by Administrative Law Judges at the Office of State Administrative Hearings.¹⁹

1
Georgia Department of Public Safety. Annual Leave
2
Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Rules of the State Personnel Board 478-1-.16 – Absence from Work
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Georgia Department of Community Health. Paid Leave
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Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Paid Parental Leave
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-20-17 – Parental Leave
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U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
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eCFR. 29 CFR 825.302 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave
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Justia. Georgia Code 38-2-279 – Rights of Public Officers and Employees
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Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Rules of the State Personnel Board 478-1-.19 – Military Leave
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4312 – Reemployment Rights of Persons Who Serve in the Uniformed Services
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UniCourt. Georgia Code Title 45 – Public Officers and Employees – Section 45-20-31
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UniCourt. Georgia Code Title 45 – Public Officers and Employees – Section 45-20-30
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State of Georgia Careers. State of Georgia Education Support Leave
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Georgia.gov. Georgia State Holidays 2026
15
Georgia State Accounting Office. Georgia State Accounting Office Personnel Policy – Leave and Attendance
16
Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Rules of the State Personnel Board 478-1-.16 – Absence from Work
17
Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia. ERS Employer Manual
18
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Code 478-1-.20 – Employee Complaint Resolution Procedure
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Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Rules of the State Personnel Board 478-1-.27 – Appeals and Hearings for Classified Employees