Certain holidays are observed throughout the country, including New Year's Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. But states are free to enact additional legal holidays -- days on which workers must be paid a bonus wage -- that reflect their unique culture. Georgia legal holiday laws observe Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee's birthday in addition to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.
The following table lists the legal holidays recognized in the state of Georgia. See FindLaw's Wage and Hour Laws section for related articles and resources.
| Code Section | 1-4-1; Ga. Gov. Memos dated 10/18/90 and 10/16/91 |
| Holidays | See below for breakdown. |
Federal Holidays
Federal employees and bank employees normally get paid for these days off. School teachers, students, and state employees generally get these days off from work as well. However, whether your private sector employer will give you the day off is up to their discretion. In a lot of industries, like restaurants and retail, federal holidays are some of the busiest days of the year, because all of their customers are off of work. If you have to work on one of the federal holidays, your employer may offer holiday pay to motivate employees to not take the day off without pay. When a federal holiday is falls on a Saturday or Sunday, employers may give employees the day off on the preceding Friday or the following Monday. The following is a list of federal holidays and their dates:
Georgia State Holidays
Some states have holidays that are unique to that state, and Georgia is no exception. Just like federal holidays, government employees and bank employees may get the day off. School employees may have a paid day off as well, and private sector employees may receive holiday pay depending on how widespread holiday celebrations may be. The following is a list of state holidays in Georgia celebrated annually.
If you would like to know more about how federal and state holidays affect your pay and your paid time off, you may want to speak with a local employment law attorney. Depending on your employer, and your employment agreement, you may have a claim against your employer for back pay or wrongful termination if you were not paid for a federal or state holiday, or if you were terminated for taking the day off. There are many employment law attorneys throughout Georgia who may be able to help.
