Employer of record in Georgia: PEO rules, payroll registration and what the client still owns (2026)

Georgia does not license employer of record companies or PEOs: as of October 2026, we found no Georgia statute that licenses or registers them, and the old private employment agency licensing rules are repealed. The state-specific rules sit in its unemployment and workers' compensation laws instead. An "employee leasing company" that hires, pays and assigns workers treats them as its own employees for unemployment insurance, but it may report them under its own Georgia Department of Labor account only if it posts a surety bond, at least $10,000; otherwise wages go under each client's account. For workers' compensation, the leasing company is deemed a statutory employer, and the client shares the exclusive remedy protection once benefits are provided.

This page is for a company outside Georgia, or a staffing firm, deciding whether to employ someone in Georgia through an employer of record (EOR) or PEO, or to register itself. The general difference between an EOR, a PEO, a staffing agency and payrolling is in what is an employer of record and payrolling services explained. The repeal of agency licensing is in staffing agency license in Georgia, and the state's hiring checklist is in hiring employees in Georgia. This page adds the leasing bond, whose account the wages go under, how workers' compensation immunity works and what stays with you.

Georgia employer of record and PEO rules at a glance

Does Georgia license employer of record companies or PEOs?

No. We found no licensing or registration chapter for PEOs, employee leasing companies or employers of record in Title 34 (labor) or Title 43 (professions and businesses) of the Georgia Code, and the Department of Labor's private employment agency rules in chapter 300-4 are repealed, as our Georgia staffing license guide explains. The only Georgia statute that defines the business is the Employment Security Law. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-8-32(a), an "employee leasing company" is "an independently established business entity which engages in the business of providing leased employees to any other employing unit" when it:

1. negotiates with clients over "time, place, type of work, working conditions, quality, and price of service";
2. determines the workers' assignments, even if they may refuse one;
3. sets their rate of pay;
4. pays them from its own accounts; and
5. hires and terminates the people who perform services for the clients.

That test describes the leasing company's role, not a license. A temporary help contracting firm, defined separately in § 34-8-46, is not an employee leasing company (§ 34-8-32(c)). The practical result is that there is no state list to check a Georgia PEO against: the information leasing companies give the Department of Labor is confidential under O.C.G.A. § 34-8-121, per rule 300-2-7-.07. Your checks are the provider's bond, its Department of Labor account, its workers' compensation certificate and, for federal taxes, the IRS's CPEO public listings.

Who pays Georgia unemployment tax on an EOR or PEO worker?

The leasing company, under its own account, if it is bonded. Section 34-8-32(b) says people performing services for an employee leasing company "shall be considered employees of the employee leasing company," which "shall file required reports ... and pay contributions on wages paid to such employees." The Department of Labor's employer liability guide (DOL-4E) lists an employee leasing company that supplies workers to clients among liable employers. But § 34-8-172 adds a condition: the Commissioner "shall require any employee leasing company ... to post a surety bond or such equivalent financial securities," and if it cannot, it "may report such employees as being in the employment of its client employers."

Rule 300-2-7-.07 fills in the numbers and the consequences:

• Bond. The greater of $10,000 or 2.7 percent of taxable payroll for the four quarters ending June 30 before the bond takes effect, renewed every year with no cancellation clause. A cash deposit, irrevocable letter of credit or equivalent securities can substitute. A new leasing company with no Georgia history posts $10,000 for its first calendar year. A $5,000 bond is available to a company with a positive reserve for four consecutive quarters in the last twelve, timely reports and monthly prepayments.
• All or nothing. The company either treats all its clients' workers as its own, with the bond, or treats them as the clients' employees; it cannot pick and choose.
• If the bond lapses. The company reports all employment under each client's name and Department of Labor account. Clients are told in writing and are not liable for employment already reported until they get that notice.
• Experience rating. A leasing company is not a successor to its clients and does not take over their unemployment experience; its rate reflects its own record since it became a leasing company.
• Records by client. Bonded or not, it keeps a current list of Georgia clients, their prior Department of Labor registrations and federal ID numbers, and separate wage, hour and work-location records for each client, and reports changes quarterly.

If you also employ people in Georgia directly, you need your own account once you pay $1,500 in wages in a calendar quarter or employ someone in 20 weeks of a year, per the Georgia hiring checklist.

Who carries workers' compensation in Georgia?

The law does not say which party must buy the policy, but it says what happens once someone does. The State Board of Workers' Compensation says that "If you regularly employ three or more persons in your Georgia business, you are required to provide the benefits," counting regular part-time workers. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11(c), the act's immunity from injury lawsuits "shall apply and extend to the businesses using the services of a temporary help contracting firm ... or an employee leasing company ... when the benefits required by this chapter are provided by either the temporary help contracting firm or the employee leasing company or the business using the services," and "an employee leasing company shall be deemed to be a statutory employer for the purposes of this chapter."

So the client's protection depends on benefits actually being provided. Get the certificate, check that it covers Georgia work and the right class code, and agree who posts the panel of physicians the Board requires at the workplace (see the SBWC law FAQ). If you want the 7.5 percent premium reduction for a certified Drug-Free Workplace Program, ask whose policy it would apply to.

Which Georgia registrations, reports and notices still apply?

• Income tax withholding. A withholding account with the Department of Revenue and Form G-4 from each employee; the provider that pays wages normally runs it, so confirm that in the contract.
• New-hire reporting. Within 10 days of the hire date, through the Georgia New Hire Reporting Program, shorter than the 20 days many states allow.
• E-Verify. Private employers with more than 10 employees file an E-Verify affidavit when they get or renew a business license, and public contracts carry their own rules, per the Department of Audits and Accounts. Agree who enrolls and runs cases for the worker; see E-Verify requirements in Georgia.
• Posters. The workers' compensation panel of physicians and the other notices in the Georgia hiring checklist; ask how a remote worker receives them.
• Paid leave programs. We found no Georgia paid family leave or disability insurance program that needs a separate employer registration.

What does the client company still own in Georgia?

With no PEO statute, Georgia law does not divide the employer's duties for you; the contract does, and anything it leaves out stays where the facts put it. Because the client usually chooses the worker and directs the work, expect to own:

• The hiring process. Georgia is one-party consent for recording calls (see Georgia recording consent law for interviews). If a decision rests on a Georgia criminal history record, state law requires telling the applicant what the record said and how it was used; see Georgia background check laws. Testing follows Georgia drug testing laws.
• Job postings for remote roles. Georgia has no pay range rule, but a posting open to candidates in other states can pick up theirs; see pay transparency laws by state.
• Supervision and the workplace. Safety, scheduling and day-to-day direction, which also drive who is the employer for wage and discrimination claims; see joint employer liability for staffing agencies.
• Restrictive covenants. Georgia enforces reasonable non-competes and non-solicits by statute; check whose name is on the agreement and see Georgia non-compete law.
• Federal payroll taxes. The IRS says the client "generally remains responsible" for employment taxes unless the PEO is IRS-certified.

When is registering your own company in Georgia the better route?

• The provider is not bonded with the Department of Labor. Its wages go under your account anyway, so you are registering in Georgia either way.
• You expect three or more Georgia employees. At that point you need workers' compensation, and your own setup is a Department of Labor account, a Department of Revenue withholding account, Form G-4 and 10-day new-hire reports.
• You want to build your own unemployment rating. A bonded leasing company's rate is its own, not yours.
• The work is a short, defined project. A temporary help contracting firm may fit better than a leasing arrangement.

Questions to ask an employer of record or PEO before signing for Georgia

1. Have you posted the bond or security the Georgia Department of Labor requires of employee leasing companies, and for what amount?
2. Will our worker's wages be reported under your Department of Labor account or ours?
3. If your bond lapses, how and when will you notify us, and what would we owe?
4. Do you meet the five conditions of an employee leasing company in O.C.G.A. § 34-8-32, or are you a temporary help contracting firm?
5. Who carries workers' compensation for the worker, which class code applies, and can we see the certificate?
6. Who opens the Department of Revenue withholding account, collects Form G-4 and reports the hire within 10 days?
7. Who files the E-Verify affidavit and runs the case?
8. Are you an IRS-certified PEO, and who is liable for federal employment taxes if you miss a payment?
9. Who handles terminations, final pay and unemployment claims?
10. Can we move the worker to our own payroll later, and is there a fee?

Employer of record rules in other states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas.