O.C.G.A. § 31-29-6

Any employee of any state institution, agency, or department who qualifies under Code Section 31-29-1 shall be given credit for all salary adjustments and the same eligibility for step increases to which he or she would have been entitled under the rules of the State Personnel Board had he or she not contracted tuberculosis or infectious hepatitis and had he or she remained on the job full time in the same capacity and with the same status as he or she had previously attained.