HB569: HB569 Labor and industrial relations; employment security; benefits and appeals; revise certain notice provisions

Georgia's unemployment insurance system (governed by Chapter 8 of Title 34) gives workers and employers a limited window, generally 15 days, to appeal decisions about benefits eligibility, hearing officer rulings, and board of review decisions. Currently that window is measured from when a notice was mailed or otherwise delivered. This bill creates a new legal term, 'issue date,' defined as the date the Department of Labor releases a determination or decision by mail, hand delivery, or electronically with the party's consent. It requires that date to be printed on the determination or decision. The bill then replaces references to the mailing date with the issue date in the deadlines for reconsideration, hearing officer appeals, board of review decisions, and judicial review. It also lets the Commissioner adopt rules to waive, alter, extend, or set aside these time limits, as long as any such rule is consistent with due process. The changes would take effect January 1, 2026.

• Creates a new defined term, 'issue date,' meaning the date the Department of Labor releases a benefits determination or decision to a party by mail, hand delivery, or electronic means.
• Requires the issue date to be printed directly on determinations and decisions issued by the department.
• Replaces the 'mailed' or 'notification' date with the 'issue date' as the trigger for the 15-day appeal window in four separate sections covering initial determinations, hearing officer decisions, board of review decisions, and judicial review.
• Authorizes the Commissioner to adopt administrative rules waiving, altering, extending, or setting aside these time limits, provided the rules remain consistent with due process.
• Sets the effective date of the changes as January 1, 2026, and repeals conflicting laws.

Georgia workers who apply for or receive unemployment benefits, employers involved in benefits disputes, administrative hearing officers, the Board of Review, and the Georgia Department of Labor, which issues determinations and sets the printed issue dates that now control appeal deadlines.

Because appeal deadlines currently run from when a notice was mailed, questions can arise about exactly when that clock started. Tying the 15-day deadline to a printed issue date on the document itself could make it clearer and more consistent for workers and employers deciding whether they still have time to appeal a benefits decision.

• New Code Section 34-8-53 defines 'issue date' and requires it to be printed on determinations and decisions, and lets the Commissioner adopt rules adjusting time limits consistent with due process.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-8-192(c) so a determination becomes final 15 days after the issue date printed on it, rather than 15 days after mailing.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-8-220(b) so a hearing officer's decision becomes final 15 days after the issue date printed on it instead of the mailing or notification date.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-8-221(a) and (b) so board of review decisions become final, or may be reconsidered, within 15 days of the issue date printed on the decision.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-8-223(a) so judicial review deadlines run from the issue date printed on the board's decision rather than the date of mailing or notification.
• Section 6 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.

1. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-04House Passed/Adopted (House)
3. 2025-03-04House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
5. 2025-02-26House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-24House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-21House Hopper (House)

• Jutt Howard (R, HD-071)Primary sponsor
• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   170 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #190

• unemployment benefits
• employment security
• appeals process
• Georgia Department of Labor