HB 680: 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

Under current Georgia law, employers can generally require employees to provide a doctor's note or other proof of a healthcare visit when they are absent from work. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's labor code (O.C.G.A. Title 34) that bars this practice for employers who do not offer affordable health insurance, defined as coverage where the employee's cost for individual coverage does not exceed 9.02 percent of the median annual household income in the area where the employee lives. The rule would only apply to employers with six or more employees, and to employees who work at least 20 hours a week and have been with the employer for at least 31 days. The state labor department would be directed to write rules and regulations to carry out the new requirement. The bill repeals any conflicting laws but does not state a specific effective date beyond standard enactment.

• Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-11) barring employers without affordable health insurance from demanding a doctor's note for an employee's absence.
• Defines 'affordable health insurance benefits' as coverage costing an employee no more than 9.02 percent of the area's median household income for self-only coverage.
• Limits the protection to employees working at least 20 hours per week who have worked for the employer for at least 31 days.
• Applies only to employers with six or more employees.
• Directs the state labor department to adopt rules and regulations to implement the new requirement.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with the new rule.

Georgia employers with six or more workers who do not offer affordable health coverage, and their employees who work at least 20 hours a week and have been employed for at least 31 days. The state labor department would also be affected, since it must write implementing rules.

Employees at covered businesses without affordable health coverage would no longer have to produce a doctor's note to justify an absence, potentially easing the burden of proving illness. Employers in that situation would lose the ability to require this documentation for those workers.

• Section 1 creates new O.C.G.A. § 34-1-11 within Title 34's general provisions on labor and industrial relations.
• Subsection (a) defines 'affordable health insurance benefits,' 'employee,' 'employer,' and 'health insurance benefits' for purposes of this section.
• Subsection (b) prohibits an employer without affordable health insurance benefits from requiring a doctor's note or other documentation of healthcare services for an employee's absence.
• Subsection (c) directs the department to adopt implementing rules and regulations.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the Act.

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

• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-42)Primary sponsor
• Long Tran (D, HD-80)
• Michelle Au (D, HD-50)
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-63)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-98)

• employee rights
• health insurance
• workplace policy
• labor law
• doctor's notes