Georgia background check laws for employers

The FCRA sets the process in Georgia

Georgia has no statewide ban-the-box law for private employers. An employer can ask about criminal history at any stage, unless a local ordinance or a rule for the job says otherwise.

When the employer uses a background check company, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act applies: a clear written disclosure, the candidate's written authorization, a copy of the report and the FCRA Summary of Rights before an adverse decision, and an adverse action notice after it.

Georgia's state records rule

Records from the Georgia Crime Information Center generally require the candidate's signed consent. If an employer makes an adverse decision based on a GCIC record, it must tell the candidate that the record came from GCIC, what it contains and how it affected the decision. This is in addition to the FCRA notices.

Atlanta's criminal history ordinance

Since 2022, Atlanta's human rights ordinance protects people from discrimination based on criminal history in private employment. It covers employers with ten or more employees, and employment agencies. Job ads can't exclude people with records.

An employer may still act on criminal history when it relates to the job, after considering whether the person committed the offense, its nature and gravity, the time since, and the nature of the job. Jobs where a state or federal law disqualifies people with certain convictions are exempt. The ordinance doesn't set a waiting period of its own.

Records Georgia employers can't use

Georgia restricts access to records that a court or prosecutor has restricted, including many cases that ended in dismissal or completed diversion. After a first offender discharge, the case is not a conviction and can't be used to disqualify the person from employment, with exceptions in the law.

Georgia has no general rule that keeps arrests without a conviction out of private hiring.

Cannabis, reporting limits and driving records

Georgia lets employers keep written zero-tolerance drug policies that cover on-duty and off-duty use. Medical cannabis changes in force since July 1, 2026 did not change that protection for employers.

Georgia has no separate limit on how far back a report can go. Under the federal FCRA, convictions can be reported regardless of age; most other negative records are limited to seven years, except for jobs paying $75,000 a year or more.

Georgia's Department of Driver Services charges $8 for a driving record in PROFID's published fee table, and $6 for a three-year record. Businesses that order driving records keep the driver's written consent on file.

What a Georgia check costs

PROFID's packages are $27.99, $49.99 and $74.99 per candidate on the review date; current prices are on the pricing page. On top of the package come passthrough fees like those above: $8 for a driving record and a $1 processing fee on the statewide criminal search. See what drives the cost of a background check and the full passthrough fee table.

General information as of November 6, 2026, not legal advice. Coverage depends on the work location, employer size, role and records involved, and laws and fees change. Check the rules for each place where your employees work before relying on them. Fees are from PROFID's fee table, version April 22, 2026.