HB680: HB680 Labor and industrial relations; prohibit certain employers that do not provide affordable health insurance benefits from requiring certain employees to provide a doctor's note when absent from work

Right now, many Georgia employers can require workers to bring a doctor's note or other proof of a healthcare visit any time they miss work, regardless of whether that employer offers health coverage. This bill would change that for employers with six or more employees. If such an employer does not provide affordable health insurance benefits, defined as the cheapest available self-only coverage costing no more than 9.02 percent of the median household income in the area where the employee lives, the employer could no longer require a doctor's note or other documentation of a healthcare service from an eligible absent employee. The protection applies to employees who work at least 20 hours a week and have been with the employer at least 31 days. The bill adds a new section to Georgia's labor code (O.C.G.A. Title 34) and directs the Georgia Department of Labor to write rules to carry it out. It does not include a stated effective date beyond the standard process for new laws.

• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-11) barring certain employers from requiring a doctor's note for an employee's work absence.
• Limits this ban to employers with six or more employees that do not offer 'affordable' health insurance benefits, a term the bill defines by a cost formula tied to local median income.
• Defines 'affordable' as self-only coverage costing no more than 9.02 percent of the median annual household income in the employee's area.
• Restricts the protection to employees working at least 20 hours per week who have worked for the employer for at least 31 days.
• Directs the Georgia Department of Labor to adopt rules and regulations to implement the new requirement.

Georgia employers with six or more employees that do not offer affordable health coverage, and their employees who work at least 20 hours a week and have been employed at least 31 days. The Georgia Department of Labor is also affected because it must write implementing rules.

Workers at covered employers without affordable health coverage would no longer have to produce a doctor's note to justify missing work, which can be hard to get quickly or afford. Employers in that situation would lose a documentation tool they may currently use to verify absences.

• Section 1 adds new Code section 34-1-11 to Georgia's labor and industrial relations title (O.C.G.A. Title 34).
• Defines 'affordable health insurance benefits' as the cheapest self-only coverage costing no more than 9.02 percent of the area's median annual household income.
• Defines 'employee' as someone working at least 20 hours per week for at least 31 days for the employer, and 'employer' as any entity with six or more employees.
• Defines 'health insurance benefits' broadly to include group health plans, health reimbursement arrangements, or wellness stipends.
• Subsection (b) prohibits a covered employer without affordable coverage from requiring a doctor's note or other documentation of a healthcare service for an absence.
• Subsection (c) directs the Georgia Department of Labor to adopt rules and regulations implementing the section.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)Primary sponsor
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)
• Michelle Au (D, HD-050)
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)

• labor law
• employee sick leave
• health insurance affordability
• workplace rights