---
title: HB 1204. Employment; age discrimination; change age of individuals protected
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1204
cite_as: HB 1204, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1204
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1204.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1204/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72880
date: 2026-02-09
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1204.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1204
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-05
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Kim Schofield
- Gerald Greene
- Dewey McClain
- Rick Townsend
- Viola Davis
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1204/2025
upstream_id: 2109984
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- age discrimination
- employment law
- workers' rights
- retirement policy
---
# HB 1204. Employment; age discrimination; change age of individuals protected
## Text
House Bill 1204
By: Representatives Schofield of the 63rd, Greene of the 154th, McClain of the 109th,
Townsend of the 179th, and Davis of the 87th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 34-1-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
prohibition of age discrimination in employment, so as to change the age of individuals
protected by such prohibition; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and
for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 34-1-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to prohibition of
age discrimination in employment, is amended by revising subsection (a) as follows:
"(a) No person, firm, association, or corporation carrying on or conducting within this state
any business requiring the employment of labor shall refuse to hire, employ, or license nor
shall such person, firm, association, or corporation bar or discharge from employment any
individual between the ages of 40 and 70 years 40 years of age or older, solely upon the
ground basis of age, when the reasonable demands of the position do not require such an
age distinction, provided that such individual is qualified physically, mentally, and by
training and experience to perform satisfactorily the labor assigned to him or her or for
which he or she applies. Nothing in this Code section shall affect the retirement policy or
system of any employer where such policy or system is not merely a subterfuge to evade
the purposes of this Code section. When the retirement or insurance benefit program of
any employer shall lawfully prohibit the employment of any person because of excessive
age, such person shall have the authority, as a condition of employment, to waive the right
to participate in any such program and receive any benefits therefrom. Nothing in this
Code section shall be construed to prohibit compulsory retirement of any employee who
has attained 65 years of age but not 70 years of age and who, for the two-year period
immediately before retirement, is employed in a bona fide executive or a high
policy-making position, if such employee is entitled to an immediate nonforfeitable annual
retirement benefit from a pension, profit-sharing, savings, or deferred compensation plan,
or any combination of such plans, of the employer of such employee, which equals, in the
aggregate, at least $27,000.00."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 1204 would remove the upper age limit in Georgia's age discrimination in employment law, extending protection to all workers 40 and older instead of only those between 40 and 70.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently protects employees and job applicants from age discrimination, but only if they are between 40 and 70 years old (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-2). This bill rewrites that section to remove the upper cutoff, so the law would protect anyone 40 years of age or older, with no maximum age.
The bill also makes small wording changes, replacing 'ground' with 'basis' and adding 'or her' after references to 'him' to make the language gender-neutral. It keeps existing exceptions, including the rule allowing mandatory retirement for certain high-level executives who qualify for a retirement benefit of at least $27,000 a year. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law without a signature.
### What it does
- Removes the current 70-year-old upper age limit in Georgia's age discrimination in employment law, protecting all workers 40 and older instead of just those 40 to 70.
- Replaces the word 'ground' with 'basis' when describing the prohibited reason for employment decisions based on age.
- Adds gendered language ('or her') to existing references to employees, without changing the substance of protections.
- Leaves in place the existing exception allowing mandatory retirement of certain executives aged 65 to 70 with at least $27,000 in guaranteed annual retirement benefits.
- Sets the law to take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.
### Who it affects
Georgia workers and job applicants age 40 and older, especially those over 70 who were previously outside the law's protection. Also affects employers, businesses, and corporations operating in Georgia that hire, fire, or set retirement policies, since they must apply the age discrimination rules to a wider group of employees.
### Why it matters
Workers over 70 in Georgia currently fall outside the state's specific age discrimination protections in employment. This bill would extend those protections to them, meaning older employees and applicants could have legal grounds to challenge being refused hire, fired, or denied employment based on age, without an upper age cutoff.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-1-2(a), changing the protected age range from 'between the ages of 40 and 70 years' to '40 years of age or older,' removing the upper limit.
- Section 1 also changes the word 'ground' to 'basis' and adds gender-neutral pronouns without altering the substantive protections.
- Section 1 keeps intact the existing carve-out permitting mandatory retirement of certain bona fide executives or high policy-making employees aged 65 to 70 who qualify for at least $27,000 in annual retirement benefits.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as immediately upon the Governor's approval or upon the bill becoming law without his signature.
- Section 3 repeals any existing laws that conflict with this Act.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-05)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-09)
- Sponsors: Kim Schofield, Gerald Greene, Dewey McClain, Rick Townsend, Viola Davis
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72880
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1204.md?full=1