Georgia Department of Labor requires 3 documented work search contacts per week beginning in your first payable week. Georgia also requires registration and ongoing engagement with the Georgia DOL job bank as a parallel requirement. With a maximum of 14 to 20 weeks of benefits — and often 14 in recent years — missing work search requirements for even a few weeks represents a significant loss of Georgia's already-limited benefit window. Document every contact from week one.
- Georgia requires 3 job contacts per week, documented with verifiable employer and position details.
- Job bank registration and engagement at dol.georgia.gov is a parallel condition — both work search and job bank activity are required.
- Georgia audits work search records. Unverifiable contacts are rejected and can trigger repayment for those weeks.
Always verify exact numbers, deadlines, and forms on the Georgia Department of Labor's official website – this page provides general guidance, not state-specific legal advice.
Valid Work Search Contacts in Georgia
Georgia accepts: online applications to specific employers for specific positions; in-person or email outreach to employers about openings; job interviews; registering with staffing agencies; and using Georgia DOL career center services. Passive job board browsing, resume updates without applications, and general career planning sessions without employer contact do not count. Each contact must be with a different employer, or for a distinctly different position, in the same week.
Documentation Standard
Record for each contact: date, employer name and contact details, specific job title, method (online, phone, email, in person, agency), person contacted if applicable, and outcome. Save all confirmation emails and application receipts. Georgia auditors request documentation for specific weeks — often months after the benefit period. Records reconstructed from memory are unreliable and typically rejected by auditors.
Georgia DOL Career Centers
Georgia operates career centers through the Georgia DOL statewide network. Services provided at a Georgia DOL career center — meeting with an employment counselor, receiving job referrals, attending workshops — count as work search contacts. Career center visits can supplement online applications in weeks where direct employer contacts are limited. Find career center locations at dol.georgia.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Georgia requires both work search contacts and job bank registration. Are these the same thing?
- No — they are separate requirements. Work search contacts are your 3 documented outreach efforts to specific employers each week. Job bank registration is your enrollment and ongoing engagement with the Georgia DOL's statewide job matching database at dol.georgia.gov. Job bank activity (applying to positions listed in the job bank, using career counseling services) can generate work search contacts that count toward your 3-per-week requirement, but simply being registered with the job bank without active job searching does not satisfy the work search requirement. Both the work search documentation and the job bank registration must be maintained throughout your benefit period.
- I live in Atlanta and work in tech. Are there 3 qualifying job opportunities per week for my field?
- Yes — for most tech roles in Atlanta, 3 weekly contacts is achievable through online platforms alone. LinkedIn, Indeed, Dice (tech-specific), and direct company career pages all generate valid contacts. Each application to a different employer counts. Additionally, Atlanta has a significant tech community with job fairs, networking events, and recruitment firms specializing in tech placements — each meaningful contact with a specific employer about a specific role counts. Tech professionals sometimes encounter situations where their niche specialty has limited open postings in a given week; in those cases, broadening the search to adjacent roles, remote positions nationally, or contacting recruiters at firms you have not applied to directly can generate the required contacts.
- Georgia audited my work search records and rejected one of my contacts. What happens now?
- A rejected contact means Georgia DOL determined it could not verify that contact met the requirements. If the rejection brings your documented contacts below 3 for that week, you may be disqualified for benefits for that specific week and issued an overpayment notice for any benefits already paid. Appeal within 15 days if you believe the contact was legitimate and the rejection was incorrect. Provide all available documentation for the specific contact — the more specific and verifiable your evidence, the stronger your appeal. If the contact genuinely did not meet the standard (wrong type, unverifiable employer), the disqualification stands, but it typically affects only the specific week in question.
- I'm on a temporary layoff in Georgia with a recall date 3 weeks out. Do I need to do 3 work searches per week?
- Georgia may waive the work search requirement for short-term temporary layoffs with definite recall dates. Report your temporary layoff status and the recall date when you file your Georgia UI Benefits claim. Georgia DOL determines whether a work search waiver applies to your situation. If granted, you certify your availability without meeting the 3-contact standard during the temporary layoff period. If the recall date changes, notify Georgia DOL immediately. The work search requirement resumes if the layoff extends beyond the original window or becomes indefinite.
- Georgia DOL's career center is far from where I live. Do I still need to use it for work search?
- Career center visits are one of several ways to generate work search contacts, but they are not mandatory if you have other valid contacts (online applications, direct employer outreach, staffing agency engagement). Georgia does not require in-person career center visits as a condition of eligibility — the job bank registration (at dol.georgia.gov online) satisfies the job bank requirement without requiring physical center visits. Conduct your 3 weekly contacts through whatever methods are practical for your location. If you are in a rural area with limited nearby employers, online applications to statewide and remote positions are fully valid work search contacts.