Every year employers, small business owners, and HR managers have to take into consideration holidays when they are creating shift schedules and effectively planning. In 2025, the state of Georgia will observe a range of federal and state holidays. These dates play a crucial role in determining the days when businesses and offices will be closed, when employers have to provide time off to their staff or compensate for working on a holiday. Making it important for employers to be aware of when are Georgia state holidays in 2025.
In today’s state holidays guide for employers, we will outline all 2025 Georgia state holidays and any holiday laws you should be aware of to effectively plan for your business.
Georgia federal holidays 2025
Let’s start today’s post by exploring the list of all federal state of Georgia holidays that are observed in 2025.
Federal holidays 2025 Georgia:
- New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1, 2025)
- Martin Luther King’s Birthday (Monday, January 20, 2025)
- Washington’s Birthday or President’s Day (Monday, February 17, 2025)
- Memorial Day (Monday, May 26, 2025)
- Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19, 2025)
- Independence Day (Friday, July 4, 2025)
- Labor Day (Monday, September 1, 2025)
- Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Monday, October 13, 2025)
- Veterans Day (Tuesday, November 11, 2025)
- Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 27, 2025)
- Christmas Day (Thursday, December 25, 2025)
Washington’s Birthday is recognized as both a federal and state holiday in Georgia. Unliked most states, Georgia passed a legislative law in 1973 that moved this holiday to be observed in December. The intention was to create a 3-day weekend for state employees and to boost travel during the holiday season. Basically meaning that Washington’s Birthday may be observed on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) or the day after Christmas (Dec. 26) – depending on what day of week Christmas falls on. This year Washington’s Birthday will be observed on Friday, December 26, 2025.
Is Juneteenth a federal holiday in Georgia?
Yes, as with all other US states including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, and Florida, Juneteenth is now observed as a federal holiday in Georgia. This is the most recent holiday that the federal government has nationalized in the US. The holiday came into force after President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021.
Download Georgia’s federal holidays in 2025.
Georgia state holidays 2025
In addition to the federal holidays listed above, Georgia, also known as the Peach State, celebrates additional holidays that commemorate historical events or honor local figures.
An example of this is, Good Friday which is recognized as a state holiday. On this day, many government offices, schools, and businesses close for the day. This allows people to spend time with their families, attend religious services, or participate in community events that focus on the religious and spiritual significance of this holy day.
In addition, Georgia also observes the day after Thanksgiving (November 28) as a state of GA holiday in 2025. This day is also known as “Black Friday” which is famous for massive amounts of retail activity as it officially kicks off the holiday shopping season.
What holidays are paid in Georgia?
Public and private employers abide by different regulations regarding holiday pay, as well as, determining if the holiday is a federal or state holiday.
State offices and facilities must be closed for a certain number of days each year, including legal holidays and other specified holidays. Generally this means the state of Georgia is required to provide paid holidays and close all facilities for all federal holidays. This also includes Good Friday, Statehood Day, and Election Day.
Moreover, private employers in GA are not required to close their businesses on any of the listed Georgia state holidays in 2025. Moreover, they don’t have to provide employees with paid or unpaid time off on these holidays. They also do not have to pay premium wage rates to employees who work on those days unless the time worked qualifies the employee for overtime under regular overtime laws.
Leave laws and holidays in the state of Georgia
Now let’s explore the leave and holiday laws in Georgia to help you understand your obligations as an employer. Make sure you keep these laws in mind when you create your employee time off policies.
- Vacation leave. Neither federal nor Georgia laws mandate private employers to offer paid or unpaid vacation time to their employees.
- Vacation accruals. Accruals are not obligatory in Georgia. However, many companies implement schedules for vacation accrual.
- Roll over. Employers do not have to let employees roll over unused leave into the following year.
- Sick leave: There are no state laws regulating sick leave in Georgia. However, according to the FMLA, employers must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave.
- Georgia Family Care Act. Employers in Georgia do not have to provide paid sick leave to their employees. However, employers with 25 or more employees who do offer paid sick leave must allow eligible employees to use their sick leave to care for close family members.
- Military leave. Private employers must provide unpaid leave for employees temporarily serving as U.S. military members.
- Jury leave. Employers in Georgia must provide employees with job-protected unpaid leave to respond to a jury summons or serve on a jury.
- Parental leave. Georgia doesn’t have a parental leave law. However, employees can still benefit from the federal provisions set by the FMLA.
- Bereavement leave. Employers in Georgia do not have to offer paid or unpaid bereavement leave.
Holiday pay in Georgia
What exactly are the rules regarding holiday pay in Georgia? We’ve seen the requirements for federal and state holidays 2025 in Georgia, but do private employers have to offer holiday pay for vacation leave?
In fact, no. As we touched on briefly above, Georgia law does not require private employers to provide paid time off to their employees. However, some employers choose to do so. For example, some employers offer a set number of days of paid leave, while other employers offer unlimited PTO, personal time off, VTO, floating holidays, or flexible time off.
If an employer gives their employees paid holidays, they do not have to offer premium pay for working on holidays. This means that employees who work on holidays will typically be paid their regular rate of pay unless they are working overtime.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, some employers may choose to offer premium pay for working on holidays that fall on weekends. Additionally, some employers may be required to pay premium pay for working overtime on holidays in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Stay on top of employee leave and PTO with Factorial
Tracking paid time off (PTO) can become time-consuming and complicated for business owners and HR professionals. To help them stay organized and ensure compliance with company policy and federal and state laws, many resort to HR software. HR software like Factorial provides companies a comprehensive solution to simplify their leave management process, maintain accurate records, and centralize all employee data and requests.
Factorial offers a user-friendly and efficient leave management system that empowers businesses to manage employee leave and PTO with ease. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, staying on top of your team’s time-off requests has never been more straightforward.
For example, Factorial’s leave and PTO management features include:
- A centralized dashboard. This dashboard gives you a clear overview of all employee leave and PTO requests, as well as current balances.
- Approval workflows. You can set up approval workflows for all leave and PTO requests so that no one takes more leave than you have assigned to them.
- Reporting. Factorial provides detailed reports on employee leave and PTO usage, so you can track trends and make informed decisions about your company’s leave policies.
- Customizable leave policies. Factorial allows you to configure and customize leave rules to align with your specific requirements. Whether it’s accrual rates, vacation payout and PTO carry-over limits, or blackout periods, you have the flexibility to set up policies that match your company culture and compliance needs.
- Integrations. Factorial integrates with a variety of other HR software, so you can easily keep track of employee leave and PTO data across all your systems.
At its core, Factorial simplifies and automates employee leave and PTO management, helping you manage all Georgia state holidays in 2025, ensuring compliance, and promoting a more productive and harmonious work environment.
