---
title: HB 22. Veterans Day Paid Leave Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb22
cite_as: HB 22, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb22
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb22.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb22/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69302
date: 2025-02-11
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: 189
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb22.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 22
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-13
last_action: House Withdrawn Bill/Res Consideration
sponsors:
- Sandra Scott
- Viola Davis
- Kim Schofield
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB22/2025
upstream_id: 1916795
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- veterans benefits
- paid leave
- employment law
- tax credits
- Veterans Day
---
# HB 22. Veterans Day Paid Leave Act; enact
## Text
House Bill 22
By: Representatives Scott of the 76th, Davis of the 87th, and Schofield of the 63rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Titles 34 and 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to labor and
industrial relations and revenue and taxation, respectively, so as to require that employers
provide veteran employees paid leave on Veterans Day; to provide employers who are
required to provide such paid leave with an income tax credit for amounts paid to such
veteran employees on account of such paid leave; to provide for definitions; to provide a
short title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Veterans Day Paid Leave Act."
SECTION 2.
Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to labor and industrial relations,
is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"34-1-8.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Employer' means any person or entity that employs one or more employees,
including the state and its political subdivisions.
(2) 'Paid leave' means time away from work by an employee for any reason or purpose
during which the employee receives his or her regular salary, wages, or other
remuneration.
(3) 'Veteran' means a person who served as an active duty member of the armed forces
of the United States or a state's National Guard and who was discharged or separated
from such service under honorable conditions.
(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, on and after July 1, 2025,
each employer shall provide to each full-time employee who is a veteran one day of paid
leave on Veterans Day, November 11, of each year if such employee would otherwise be
required to work on such day and such employee gives his or her employer at least 30
days' advance notice that he or she intends to take time off on Veterans Day.
(2) An employer shall not be required to provide one day of paid leave on Veterans Day,
November 11, to a full-time employee who is a veteran pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
subsection if:
(A) Doing so would cause significant economic operational disruption to such
employer;
(B) The employer provides such employee with notice that such leave would cause
significant economic operational disruption to such employer at least 15 days prior to
Veterans Day, November 11; and
(C) The employer makes a good faith effort to provide the employee with a substitute
day on which the employee may receive one day of paid leave.
(3) Paid leave provided by an employer to an employee pursuant to this Code section
shall not reduce or otherwise be deducted from other paid leave such employer provides
to such employee."
SECTION 3.
Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue and taxation, is
amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"48-7-29.27.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Employer' means any employer upon whom an income tax is imposed by this
chapter.
(2) 'Veteran employee' means a full-time employee who served as an active duty member
of the armed forces of the United States or a state's National Guard and who was
discharged or separated from such service under honorable conditions.
(b) An employer shall be allowed a tax credit against the tax imposed pursuant to this
chapter for each veteran employee who is given one day of paid leave pursuant to Code
Section 34-1-8.1. The amount of any such tax credit shall be $300.00 for each veteran
employee who is given such one day of paid leave or the salary, wages, or other
remuneration paid to each veteran employee on account of such one day of paid leave,
whichever is less.
(c) In no event shall the total amount of the tax credit allowed pursuant to this Code
section for a taxable year exceed the employer's income tax liability. Any unused tax credit
shall be allowed the employer against succeeding years' tax liability for such taxable year.
No such tax credit shall be allowed the employer against prior years' tax liability.
(d) The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to
implement and administer the provisions of this Code section."
SECTION 4.
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 22 would require Georgia employers to give veteran employees a paid day off on Veterans Day and would offer employers a state income tax credit to offset the cost.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently does not require employers to give any worker a paid day off on Veterans Day. House Bill 22, called the Veterans Day Paid Leave Act, would change that starting July 1, 2025 by adding a new section to Georgia's labor code (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-8.1). Employers, including state and local government, would have to give full-time employees who are veterans one paid day off on November 11 each year, as long as the employee gives at least 30 days' notice.
Employers could skip this if giving the day off would cause significant economic or operational disruption, but only if they warn the employee at least 15 days ahead and make a good faith effort to offer a substitute paid day off instead. The bill also adds a new tax code section (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.27) giving employers a state income tax credit of $300 per veteran employee, or the amount actually paid for that day off, whichever is smaller. Unused credits can carry forward to future tax years but not backward.
### What it does
- Requires employers, including state and local government, to give full-time veteran employees one paid day off on Veterans Day (November 11) starting July 1, 2025.
- Requires the veteran employee to give at least 30 days' advance notice to claim the paid day off.
- Allows employers to deny the leave if it would cause significant economic or operational disruption, but only with 15 days' notice to the employee and a good faith effort to offer a substitute paid day.
- Bars employers from reducing or deducting this new Veterans Day leave from other paid leave the employee already gets.
- Creates a state income tax credit for employers equal to $300 per veteran employee given the leave, or the actual wages paid for that day, whichever is less.
- Lets employers carry unused tax credit forward to future tax years but not apply it to past years' taxes.
### Who it affects
Full-time employees who are veterans of the U.S. armed forces or a state National Guard, discharged under honorable conditions; private and public employers in Georgia, including state and local government agencies; and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which would administer the new tax credit.
### Why it matters
Veteran employees who currently must work on Veterans Day could get a guaranteed paid day off starting in 2025, provided they give proper notice. Employers would face a new leave obligation but could recoup some cost through a state tax credit worth up to $300 per veteran employee.
### Key provisions
- Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 34-1-8.1, defining 'employer,' 'paid leave,' and 'veteran,' and setting the July 1, 2025 effective date for the paid leave requirement.
- Section 2 requires 30 days' advance notice from the employee and lets employers deny leave only for significant economic or operational disruption, with 15 days' notice and a good faith substitute-day offer.
- Section 2 states the new Veterans Day leave cannot reduce or be deducted from other paid leave the employer already provides.
- Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.27, creating an employer income tax credit of $300 per veteran employee or actual wages paid for the day, whichever is less.
- Section 3 caps the credit at the employer's total income tax liability for the year, allows unused credit to carry forward, but bars applying it to prior years' taxes.
- Section 3 directs the state revenue commissioner to write rules to administer the credit.
- Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Veterans Day Paid Leave Act.'
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-13)
- Last action: House Withdrawn Bill/Res Consideration (2025-02-11)
- Sponsors: Sandra Scott, Viola Davis, Kim Schofield
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69302
> The history, votes, and amendments (189 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb22.md?full=1