Georgia Labor Law Breaks
Regarding breaks for all employees, Georgia adheres to federal law by default. Only if it lasts less than 20 minutes must a meal break be paid if an employer wishes to offer one. As long as the employee is entirely relieved of all obligations, breaks longer than 30 minutes are considered meal intervals and do not require payment.
Georgia Vacation Laws
The state of Georgia does not have laws in regard to paying an employee for any unused vacation time when he or she has been terminated from a position. Other states have laws for vacation payment, but Georgia law does not require it. Employers have the option of paying terminated employees unused vacation time but are not required.
Some companies and businesses have policies that require this kind of payment and are obligated to pay any unused vacation time. A court order can require that a terminated employee receive his or her unpaid wages for unused vacation. This is only the case when a company has previously submitted a policy where these kinds of wages are required to be paid.
Georgia Smoking Laws
Laws in regard to smoking not only maintain the right to clean air for non-smokers but also set regulations for how cigarette distribution to minors is handled. Smoking laws first arose when research showed that smoking causes health issues. Cancer of various body parts — the heart, lungs, and other vital organs — was soon found to also be caused by second-hand smoking along with personal smoking.
Smoking laws also came as non-smokers desire to consume fresh air without the worry of health risks. Consequently, smoking is most often not allowed in most public buildings as well as government buildings. Georgia state laws have set guidelines for where employees are allowed to smoke and in which areas. Under these laws, smoking is only allowed in these specific areas. Signs for non-smoking are required to be posted in facilities. If a smoking law is broken a fine will be instituted.
In Georgia smoking laws disallow tobacco products to be sold to minors. Tobacco products include cigars, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and any other product containing tobacco. Any business distributing tobacco to minors will be fined. In Georgia smoking laws also prohibit advertising tobacco products through the radio, television, and any other kind of media. No law currently prohibits tobacco products from being advertised on the Internet.
Holiday Pay Laws
No federal law or Georgia state law requires employers to offer paid holidays to their employees. However many businesses and companies do allow employees to have five to seven days of holiday pay each year. Georgia law and federal law also do not have laws that require an individual to have increased pay if he or she works on a holiday. An employer may choose to provide extra pay for employees who work on holidays. Some companies and businesses offer premium payment for un-worked holidays.
Holiday pay also establishes how much an individual is to receive while on holiday vacation. Normally an employee will receive the same wages he or she would have earned if otherwise working. Overtime pay is not issued when an individual works more than forty hours in one week as several of those hours were vacation hours and un-worked. If an employee works through the holiday and has hours of more than forty for that week, he or she is entitled to overtime pay.
