Georgia background check laws for employers

At a glance

The Georgia rules on each topic, in one line. Federal law applies to every topic.

What a background check report may include

Who it covers: Private persons and businesses obtaining Georgia criminal history from GCIC or local criminal justice agencies, and employers acting on those records.

In force since: July 1, 2026

Georgia has no consumer reporting act and no seven-year rule of its own; the federal FCRA limits apply. Georgia’s own limits run through the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC). A private employer may obtain a Georgia criminal history record from GCIC only with the person’s fingerprints or signed consent on the Center’s form (full name, address, Social Security number, date of birth). In-state felony convictions, pleas, and sentences may be released without consent through Georgia Felon Search. Restricted records (non-convictions, restricted misdemeanors) may not be disclosed to private persons or businesses, and from July 1, 2026 the Center may not provide records of First Offender Act sentences. An employer that makes an adverse employment decision on a record obtained under 35-3-34 must tell the person it obtained the record, its specific contents, and the effect it had on the decision; failure is a misdemeanor. A second path applies to care providers. A qualified entity that serves children, the elderly, or people with disabilities and uses national fingerprint checks through an authorized agency gets only a fitness determination; it must tell the person the determination and the right to challenge the record, and may not pass on the record itself (35-3-34.2(h), (k), as revised by HB 1097, from July 1, 2026).

Exceptions

• In-state felony convictions, pleas, and sentences may be disseminated without consent or fingerprints when identifying data is sufficient (35-3-34(a)(1)(C), (d.2)).
• Disclosures specifically authorized by 42-8-63.1 (certain employers for first-offender records) and by federal or state law for federally insured financial institutions (HB 162 sec. 1).

O.C.G.A. 35-3-34(b) · GBI, Obtaining Criminal History Record Information FAQ (35-3-34, 35-3-37) · 2026 Ga. Laws Act 403 (HB 162/AP), sec. 1, amending 35-3-34(a)(1)(B)(i) · GBI, Obtaining Criminal History Record Information FAQ · 2026 Ga. Laws Act 444 (HB 1097), sec. 1, revising 35-3-34.2(h)

We checked this against an unofficial copy of the law. The official text was not freely available online. Check the official code before you rely on it.

Sealed and expunged records

Who it covers: GCIC, courts, and clerks for the restriction; all employers (public and private) for the first-offender disqualification bar.

In force since: July 1, 2026

Georgia uses record restriction rather than sealing or expungement, plus the First Offender Act. Non-conviction arrests are restricted by the Center after the listed dispositions and waiting periods (for example, two years for an unprosecuted misdemeanor arrest). Restricted records may not be disclosed to private persons or businesses. A person convicted of a misdemeanor may petition the court four years after completing the sentence, with no new convictions, to restrict the record (35-3-37(j)(4), added by SB 288 in 2020). A First Offender Act discharge is not a conviction and may not be used to disqualify a person in any application for employment in the public or private sector, except as 42-8-63.1 allows. From July 1, 2026 (HB 162) courts must restrict and seal first-offender records at sentencing, the Center may not provide first-offender records to private requesters, court records are restricted at discharge, and people discharged before July 1, 2026 may petition to seal. SB 288 also protects employers: in a civil case against an employer based on an employee’s conduct, the employee’s criminal history is not admissible if it is not relevant to the facts or the witness’s truthfulness, if it was restricted, sealed, or pardoned before the act, or if it is an arrest or charge without a conviction (24-4-419).

Exceptions

• Employers listed in 42-8-63.1 may receive and use first-offender records for specified employment purposes (child, elder, and vulnerable-adult care and similar sensitive positions).
• Judicial officials and criminal justice agencies keep access to restricted records (35-3-37(a)(6)).
• A restriction or sealing may still be used to disqualify a person in the same manner as a 42-8-63.1 discharge (35-3-37(u)).

O.C.G.A. 42-8-63 · O.C.G.A. 35-3-37(a)(6) · 2026 Ga. Laws Act 403 (HB 162/AP), sec. 4, new 42-8-62.2(b) · 2026 Ga. Laws Act 403 (HB 162/AP), sec. 4, new 42-8-62.2(c) · 2016 Ga. Laws 460 (SB 367), sec. 6A-1, revising 42-8-63 · 2020 Ga. Laws 582 (SB 288), sec. 1-1, revising 35-3-37(a)(6) · 2020 Ga. Laws 582 (SB 288), sec. 3-1, new O.C.G.A. 24-4-419(b) · GBI, Georgia Criminal History Record Restrictions

Cannabis use and testing

Who it covers: All Georgia employers.

No off-duty cannabis protection. Georgia’s low-THC oil law says nothing in it requires an employer to permit or accommodate use, consumption, possession, or transfer of low-THC oil, and it does not affect an employer’s ability to keep a written zero-tolerance policy that prohibits on-duty and off-duty marijuana use or any detectable amount while at work. Recreational and smokable medical marijuana are not legal in Georgia. Pre-employment THC testing is not limited.

O.C.G.A. 16-12-191(g) · 2015 Ga. Laws 20 (HB 1, Haleigh's Hope Act), sec. 1-2, then 16-12-191(f)

Drug and alcohol testing procedures

Who it covers: Private employers that implement a certified drug-free workplace program under O.C.G.A. 34-9-410 et seq. for the premium discount (34-9-412, 33-9-40.2); voluntary.

Georgia’s Drug-Free Workplace program constrains testing only for employers that opt in to qualify for the workers’ compensation premium discount. A participating employer has no legal duty to test outside the program, but to qualify it must test job applicants after a job offer, employees on reasonable suspicion, employees at routine fitness-for-duty exams, employees in follow-up after rehabilitation, and employees who caused or contributed to a lost-time workplace injury. Random and other lawful testing is allowed. Before testing begins the employer must give all employees and applicants a one-time notice, and an employer with no program on July 1, 1993 must wait at least sixty days between the general notice and the first test. Employers outside the program face no state procedural rule.

Exceptions

• Employers that do not adopt the program have no duty to test and are outside its procedures (34-9-415(a)).

O.C.G.A. 34-9-415(b)

We checked this against an unofficial copy of the law. The official text was not freely available online. Check the official code before you rely on it.

Where federal law alone applies

We found no Georgia rule for private employers on these topics. The FCRA and other federal laws still apply.

• Criminal history questions
• Credit checks
• Salary history
• State consumer reporting law

Local rules

Some places in Georgia add their own rules. A local rule applies on top of the state rule.

• Atlanta (city). Private employers with ten or more employees (and employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint training committees) may not discriminate because of ‘criminal history status’ (ch. 94, art. V, added by Ord. No. 2022-38). An adverse decision is not a violation if based on how the criminal history relates to the job, considering whether the applicant committed the offense, its nature and gravity, the time since, and the nature of the job (sec. 94-114(3)); decisions required by state or federal bars are allowed (sec. 94-114(4)). The private rule sets no inquiry-timing or notice duty; Atlanta’s ban-the-box and adverse-decision notice (ch. 114, art. III) bind only the City as employer. Governments are excluded from the private rule. Atlanta Code of Ordinances pt. II, ch. 94, art. V (Fair Private Employment), secs. 94-110 to 94-114 (Ord. No. 2022-38); enforcement secs. 94-120 to 94-121; City hiring ch. 114, art. III

Coming changes

Laws already passed that take effect later.

• From July 1, 2027. SB 207 (2026 Ga. Laws Act 628), occupational licensing preclearance: licensing boards must show a direct relationship between a criminal conviction and the occupation, hold a hearing before denying on criminal-record grounds, and allow preclearance applications. Affects licensing boards, not private employers. Parts I-IV take effect July 1, 2027 for applications filed on or after that date; the rest took effect July 1, 2026. SB 207/AP, sec. 6-1 (amending Titles 33 and 43)

Every state’s changes, in date order: What changed.

Adverse action notices

Before you reject or act against someone because of a background check report, the FCRA requires a pre-adverse action notice, a wait, and then a final notice. The adverse action letter generator writes both notices and adds the Georgia requirements where they apply.

The waiting period calculator gives the date under the federal rule.

Paperwork at hire

Besides the federal Form I-9 and W-4, Georgia sets these for each new hire.

• State withholding. Have each new hire complete Georgia Form G-4; without a properly completed G-4, withhold as if the employee is single with zero allowances. Mail any G-4 claiming more than 14 allowances or exempt to the Department of Revenue. Form G-4
• New hire report. Report each new hire to Georgia within 10 days. State new hire reporting
• Notices at hire. Georgia adds none beyond the federal forms that every employer gives.
• E-Verify. Private employers with more than 10 employees must register with and use E-Verify, and must give their E-Verify user number on a sworn affidavit before a county or city issues or renews a business license or occupational tax certificate.

Build the new hire checklist for Georgia, with city rules, special cases and a due date for each item.

Sources

• O.C.G.A. 35-3-34(b)
• GBI, Obtaining Criminal History Record Information FAQ (35-3-34, 35-3-37)
• 2026 Ga. Laws Act 403 (HB 162/AP), sec. 1, amending 35-3-34(a)(1)(B)(i)
• 2026 Ga. Laws Act 444 (HB 1097), sec. 1, revising 35-3-34.2(h)
• O.C.G.A. 42-8-63
• O.C.G.A. 35-3-37(a)(6)
• 2016 Ga. Laws 460 (SB 367), sec. 6A-1, revising 42-8-63
• 2020 Ga. Laws 582 (SB 288), sec. 1-1, revising 35-3-37(a)(6)
• GBI, Georgia Criminal History Record Restrictions
• O.C.G.A. 16-12-191(g)
• 2015 Ga. Laws 20 (HB 1, Haleigh’s Hope Act), sec. 1-2, then 16-12-191(f)
• O.C.G.A. 34-9-415(b)
• Atlanta Code of Ordinances pt. II, ch. 94, art. V (Fair Private Employment), secs. 94-110 to 94-114 (Ord. No. 2022-38); enforcement secs. 94-120 to 94-121; City hiring ch. 114, art. III

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

After the hire

Once a background check clears, payroll and onboarding come next. Rippling (paid link) runs payroll, benefits and onboarding from one employee record.