Georgia PEO Laws: Registration, Bonding and Payroll Requirements
Georgia regulates PEOs through unemployment law: an employee leasing company may treat leased employees as its own only with an annually renewed bond of $10,000 or 2.7% of taxable payroll (O.C.G.A. 34-8-172), paying its own experience rate. New employers pay 2.70% on the $9,500 base; the minimum wage is the federal $7.25.
| PEO registration or licensing required | No separate PEO license - Georgia instead requires employee leasing companies that elect to treat clients' employees as their own to register with the Georgia Department of Labor and maintain their own unemployment account and DOL account number; PEOs that cannot post the required bond must report under each client's name and account. The PEO is defined at O.C.G.A. 34-8-32 (employee leasing company) and O.C.G.A. 34-7-6 (professional employer organization). source (opens in new window) |
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| Regulating agency | Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) - administers the Employment Security Law (O.C.G.A. Title 34, ch. 8), employer registration, DOL-626 annual rate notices, quarterly DOL-4 tax and wage reports, and the employee leasing rules in Chapter 300-2-7 of the GDOL rules. The State Board of Workers' Compensation and the Department of Insurance govern the workers' compensation side. source (opens in new window) |
| Bond or security requirement | Surety bond of the greater of $10,000 or 2.7% of the employee leasing company's taxable payroll for the four calendar quarters ending June 30 preceding the bond's effective date (O.C.G.A. 34-8-172; Rule 300-2-7-.07(2)), renewed annually in an adjusted amount with no cancellation clause. A $5,000 bond is allowed for companies with a positive reserve ratio that file timely reports and make monthly prepayments (Rule 300-2-7-.07(3)). Cash deposits or irrevocable letters of credit may be posted in lieu of the bond. source (opens in new window) |
| Registration renewal cycle | Annual - the employee leasing bond must be renewed on an annual basis in an adjusted amount as deemed appropriate, covering a minimum of one full calendar year plus the remainder of the year in which it is issued (Rule 300-2-7-.07(2)). A new ELC with no Georgia history posts $10,000 for the first calendar year (Rule 300-2-7-.07(6)). source (opens in new window) |
| SUI taxable wage base | $9,500 - employers pay tax only on the first $9,500 of each employee's wages per calendar year (in effect since January 1, 2013 per 2012 Ga. House Bill 347; GDOL employer FAQ). source (opens in new window) |
| New-employer SUI rate | 2.70% total rate for new or newly covered employers until they are eligible for an experience-based rate calculation (GDOL employer FAQ; O.C.G.A. 34-8-151(a)). 2026 rate notices (DOL-626) were issued in December 2025 via the GDOL Employer Portal. source (opens in new window) |
| State workers' comp fund | No - O.C.G.A. 34-9-121(a): every employer must secure and maintain full insurance from a person, corporation, association or organization licensed to transact workers' compensation insurance in Georgia, or self-insure with board-approved evidence of financial ability and any required security; no state fund exists. source (opens in new window) |
| State paid leave mandate | Not verified |
| State minimum wage | $5.15 per hour state basic minimum (employers of 6 or more employees), but employers subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour (DOL state minimum wage table, updated July 1, 2026). source (opens in new window) |
| PEO SUI reporting basis | PEO-level reporting with a bond-backed election: an employee leasing company is not a succeeding employer and does not acquire its clients' experience history; its rate is determined solely on its own experience (Rule 300-2-7-.07(1)). The PEO must post the O.C.G.A. 34-8-172 bond to treat clients' employees as its own; without a bond it must report all client employment under each client's name and DOL account number. Per-client books and records must be maintained (Rule 300-2-7-.07(7)), and a PEO cannot mix methods (own payroll for some clients, client payroll for others). source (opens in new window) |
Sources
- GDOL Rule 300-2-7-.07 - ELC election to treat clients' employees as its own requires its own DOL account; without a bond it reports under each client's name and account; PEO definitions at O.C.G.A. 34-8-32 and 34-7-6 — verified 2026-08-12
- GDOL - administers the Employment Security Law, employer registration, DOL-626 rate notices and quarterly DOL-4 reporting; rulemaking authority for ch. 300-2-7 — verified 2026-08-12
- Rule 300-2-7-.07(2)-(3),(6) - bond of greater of $10,000 or 2.7% of taxable payroll (4 quarters ending June 30) per O.C.G.A. 34-8-172; $5,000 prepayment alternative; cash/LOC equivalents; $10,000 first-year minimum for new ELCs — verified 2026-08-12
- Rule 300-2-7-.07(2) - bond renewed on an annual basis in an adjusted amount, covering a minimum of one full calendar year plus the remainder of the issue year — verified 2026-08-12
- GDOL employer FAQ - taxable wage base $9,500 per employee since January 1, 2013 (2012 GA House Bill 347); taxes paid only on the first $9,500 — verified 2026-08-12
- GDOL employer FAQ - new or newly covered employers assigned a total rate of 2.70% until experience-rated; O.C.G.A. 34-8-151(a); DOL-626 2026 notices issued December 2025 — verified 2026-08-12
- O.C.G.A. 34-9-121(a) - full insurance from a carrier licensed to transact workers' compensation insurance in Georgia or board-approved self-insurance with security; no state fund — verified 2026-08-12
- DOL state minimum wage table (updated July 1, 2026) - Georgia basic minimum $5.15 for employers of 6+; FLSA-covered employers must pay the federal $7.25 — verified 2026-08-12
- Rule 300-2-7-.07(1),(5),(7)-(8) - no successorship, rate on own experience only; bond failure forces per-client reporting; per-client records required; no split elections; exclusive remedy at O.C.G.A. 34-9-11 — verified 2026-08-12
What we know about Georgia
Georgia has no PEO licensing statute, and the state says so by construction: a professional employer organization is simply an employee leasing company as defined at O.C.G.A. 34-8-32 that has established a coemployment relationship, pays the coemployer's employees, reserves a right of direction and control, and assumes payroll tax withholding (O.C.G.A. 34-7-6(a)). The PEO statute makes the PEO an employer under Title 34, obligates it to comply with the employee leasing provisions of the Employment Security Law (O.C.G.A. 34-8-32, 34-8-34 and 34-8-172), preserves the client's direction and control over its own business, and extends the workers' compensation exclusive remedy to both the PEO and its coemployer clients (O.C.G.A. 34-7-6(c)-(d), 34-9-11). The operational core of Georgia's regime is GDOL Rule 300-2-7-.07, which treats the unemployment election as a privilege conditioned on a bond. An employee leasing company is not a succeeding employer under O.C.G.A. 34-8-153 and 34-8-155, does not acquire its clients' experience history, and its applicable contribution rate is determined solely on its own unemployment experience (Rule 300-2-7-.07(1)). To keep that election, the PEO must post a surety bond - or a cash deposit, irrevocable letter of credit, or equivalent securities - in the amount of the greater of $10,000 or 2.7% of its taxable payroll for the four calendar quarters ending June 30 before the bond's effective date, issued by a carrier licensed in Georgia, renewed annually in an adjusted amount, without a cancellation clause (Rule 300-2-7-.07(2); O.C.G.A. 34-8-172). A smaller $5,000 bond is available to an ELC with a positive reserve ratio for at least four consecutive quarters in the preceding twelve, no late-filing history, and monthly prepayment of contributions (Rule 300-2-7-.07(3)), and a brand-new ELC starts at the $10,000 minimum for its first calendar year (Rule 300-2-7-.07(6)). Failure to keep the bond flips the default: the PEO must then report all client employment under the client's name and DOL account number, the commissioner notifies each client in writing, and clients are not liable for contributions on employment previously reported by the PEO until that notice arrives (Rule 300-2-7-.07(5)). The rule also forbids split elections - a PEO cannot keep some clients' employees on its own payroll and others on the clients' accounts to shop rates - and requires per-client books and records, client lists, prior DOL account numbers, officer identities and FEINs (Rule 300-2-7-.07(7)); failure to comply lets the department draw on the bond for contributions, interest and penalties and force per-client reporting (Rule 300-2-7-.07(8)). The underlying UI tax system is simple: a $9,500 taxable wage base (unchanged since 2013) and a flat 2.70% new employer rate under O.C.G.A. 34-8-151(a), with DOL-626 rate notices delivered annually through the Employer Portal. Workers' compensation is written by licensed private carriers or board-approved self-insurers (O.C.G.A. 34-9-121(a)); there is no state fund. And on wages, Georgia's $5.15 state minimum applies only to the small group of employers outside the FLSA, so the practical floor is the federal $7.25 (DOL state table). Georgia imposes no statewide paid leave mandate.
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