Georgia lodging workers must take annual trafficking awareness training

Inn employees and covered rental managers must complete human trafficking awareness training each year. This covers every on-site employee of an inn and every third-party manager of a short-term rental in Georgia. A covered rental is a residential unit offered for tourist or short stays through a rental platform and managed by someone other than its owner. Training must be completed within 60 days of employment and each year after that, with completion by December 31 during the first full year of employment. A worker is exempt if they completed qualifying training in the 12 months before July 1, 2026, and provide proof to the property owner, operator, or manager. The training requirement does not apply to short-term rentals managed directly and exclusively by their owner or owners, or rented fewer than 15 days per calendar year. The law takes effect July 1, 2026. New workers must train within 60 days of starting, then yearly; first-year training is due by December 31 of the first full year of employment.

The Attorney General's office must develop or identify qualifying training with input from lodging, criminal justice, and rental platform groups. The training applies to the employees and rental managers required to receive it under this section. The course must cover trafficking definitions, warning signs, differences between labor and sex trafficking in lodging, how hospitality workers should respond, and hotline or law enforcement contact information. No separate deadline for developing or selecting the training is stated.

Inn and rental owners, operators, or managers must set reporting procedures and keep training records. This applies to every inn and short-term rental property in Georgia covered by the section. Procedures must direct reports of suspected trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline or local law enforcement. Training records must be kept while an employee works there and for one year afterward; requested records must be sent to the Attorney General's office within ten business days of a written request. Records must be provided within ten business days after the Attorney General's office makes a written request.

The Attorney General's office may impose escalating administrative penalties for knowing and willful violations. Penalties may apply to an owner, operator, or manager of an inn or covered short-term rental property. The penalty may be $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second, and $2,000 for a third or later violation. The section does not create a private lawsuit against an inn or its employees over an act or omission under these requirements, and it does not limit other rights or remedies trafficking victims have under other law. No penalty schedule start date beyond the section's July 1, 2026 effective date is stated.