Labour Code of Georgia: leave, maternity, salary

Normal working time must not exceed 40 hours a week (48 in certain continuous-operation workplaces), and rest between working days must be at least 12 hours. Overtime is worked by agreement and paid at an increased hourly rate — or, by agreement, with extra time off.

Salary must be paid at least once a month. For every day of delay, the employer owes 0.07% of the late amount. On leaving a job, the final settlement must be made within 7 days unless the contract or the law says otherwise.

Leave

• Paid leave — at least 24 working days a year
• Unpaid leave — at least 15 calendar days a year
• Heavy, harmful or hazardous work — 10 extra calendar days
• A contract clause giving up annual paid leave is void
• If the employer ends the contract, unused leave must be paid

Maternity and childcare leave

• Pregnancy and childbirth — 126 calendar days (143 with complications or twins)
• Childcare — 604 days (587 with complications or twins); 57 of them are paid
• Childcare leave can be taken by the mother or the father; it is paid from the state budget
• Adopting a child under 1 — 550 days, 90 of them paid
• Plus 12 weeks unpaid, until the child turns 5
• A breastfeeding mother of a child under 1 gets at least 1 hour of paid feeding break a day

If your rights are breached

1. Tell the employer in writing what was breached and what you want — it has 10 days to reply.
2. If there's no agreement within 14 days, you can go to court. If the employer avoided negotiating, the burden of proof is on it.
3. The deadline for a lawsuit is usually 1 year from learning of the breach (30 days for a dismissal dispute).
4. You can also complain to the Labour Inspection, which fines employers.