Georgia Unemployment Insurance
Employer Liability, Contributions and Rates, Quarterly Reports, Separation Notices and Benefit Rules (O.C.G.A. 34-8)
O.C.G.A. Title 34, Chapter 8 as published in the 2025 Georgia Code on Justia (read 2026-09-20); rates and assessments as stated for the 2017–2026 / 2024–2026 periods; GDOL employer pages read 2026-09-20 · Reviewed 2026-09-21
Unemployment insurance in Georgia is run by the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) under the Employment Security Law. Federal law (FUTA, Form 940) sits on top of it; the state contribution is what the electrical contractor pays quarterly on each employee's first $9,500 of wages. The exam wants the liability threshold, the taxable wage base, the filing calendar, the new-employer rate, the separation-notice duty and the benefit rules that decide whether a former employee's claim is charged to your account.
1. When a contractor becomes a liable employer — 34-8-33
An employing unit is an employer once, in the current or preceding calendar year, it either paid $1,500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter or had at least one individual in employment for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar weeks (consecutive or not, not necessarily the same person). Other thresholds: domestic employers $1,000 cash in a quarter; agricultural employers $20,000 in a quarter or ten workers in 20 weeks; 501(c)(3) nonprofits four or more workers in 20 weeks. Once liable, the employer is subject for the whole calendar year and stays liable until the account is terminated under 34-8-163; an employer can also elect coverage voluntarily for at least two calendar years. Register with GDOL for a tax account (application DOL-1A, now through the Employer Portal).
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