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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
Under Georgia law, no employer (public or private) may establish, maintain, or enforce any policy or rule that allows the employer or its agents to search the locked, privately owned vehicles of employees or invited guests on the employer’s parking lot and access thereto.
This restriction does not apply to:
- Searched by law enforcement officers;
- Vehicles owned or leased by an employer;
- Situations where a reasonable person would believe that accessing a locked vehicle of an employee is necessary to prevent an immediate threat to human health, life, or safety; or
- When an employee consents to a search of the locked privately owned vehicle by licensed private security officers for loss prevention purposes based on probable cause that the employee unlawfully possesses employer property.
No employer may condition employment upon any agreement that prohibits an employee from entering the parking lot and access thereto when the employee’s privately owned motor vehicle contains a firearm that is locked out of sight within the trunk, glove box, or other enclosed compartment or area within such privately owned motor vehicle, provided that any applicable employees possess a Georgia firearms license.
Neither of the above restrictions on policies or agreements apply:
- To an employer providing employees with a secure parking area which restricts general public access through the use of a gate, security station, security officers, or other similar means which limit public access into the parking area, provided that any employer policy allowing vehicle searches upon entry shall be applicable to all vehicles entering the property and applied on a uniform and frequent basis;
- To any penal institution, correctional institution, detention facility, diversion center, jail, or similar place of confinement;
- To facilities associated with electric generation owned or operated by a public utility;
- To any United States Department of Defense contractor, if such contractor operates any facility on or contiguous with a United States military base or installation or within one mile of an airport;
- To an employee who is restricted from carrying or possessing a firearm on the employer’s premises due to a completed or pending disciplinary action;
- Where transport of a firearm on the premises of the employer is prohibited by state or federal law or regulation;
- To parking lots contiguous to facilities providing natural gas transmission, liquid petroleum transmission, water storage and supply, and law enforcement services determined to be so vital to the State of Georgia, by a written determination of the Georgia Department of Homeland Security, that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on public health or safety; or
- To any area used for parking on a temporary basis.
The law also provides liability protection to any employer, property owner, or property owner’s agent in any criminal or civil action for damages resulting from or arising out of an occurrence involving the transportation, storage, possession, or use of a firearm, including, but not limited to, the theft of a firearm from an employee’s automobile, unless such employer commits a criminal act involving the use of a firearm or unless the employer knew that the person using such firearm would commit such criminal act on the employer’s premises.
State
Contacts
None.
Regulations
Georgia Code Title 16, Chapter 11, §16-11-135
(also known as the Business Security and Employee Privacy Act, Section 8)
[no public website available]
Federal
Contacts
None.
Regulations
None.