| Fair Employment Practices | Employers with 15 or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against and harassing individuals based on protected characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, handicap, or disability, under the Equal Employment Practices Act and the North Carolina Persons with Disabilities Protection Act.
Additionally, the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) forbids employers from taking any punitive or adverse action against any employee for filing (or threatening to file) a complaint, starting an investigation or proceeding, testifying or providing information to anyone regarding various state statutes, or initiating a complaint. |
| Criminal Checks | According to North Carolina law, employers cannot inquire about erased criminal convictions, charges, or arrests from job applications, interviews, or other settings. |
| Drug Testing | Employers who ask job candidates to submit to a restricted substance test are required by North Carolina law to follow specific procedural guidelines, including employing an authorized laboratory for testing, verifying a positive test result, and allowing candidates to request a retest. |
| E-Verify | Employers in North Carolina are legally required to use E-Verify to verify new hires' right to work if they have 25 or more employees. Employees with employment terms of less than nine months in a calendar year are exempt from the requirement that their employers use E-Verify. |
| Minimum Wage | The minimum wage in North Carolina is $7.25 per hour, which is also the federal minimum wage. |
| Overtime | According to North Carolina law, an employer must pay covered workers overtime at 1.5 times their usual salary for any hours over 40 in a workweek. |
| Child Labor | All minors are not permitted to work in any occupations listed in North Carolina law nor those deemed hazardous by the US Department of Labour and the Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Labour. These include but are not limited to, work that involves the possibility of falling more than 10 feet, work in confined spaces, welding, brazing, and torch cutting, as well as jobs that expose workers to lead, benzene, quartz, silicon dioxide, or asbestos silicate.
Minors under 16 must take a 30-minute break after working five hours straight.
In North Carolina, minors who wish to work must possess a youth employment certificate. |
| Health Care Continuation | Regardless of the company's size, the healthcare continuous coverage law in North Carolina applies to fully insured plans. Employees and their covered dependents who lose coverage due to termination of work or loss of eligibility under the plan must be provided with a continuation of health care coverage for up to 18 months under the law. |
| Pay Frequency | Employers are required by the Wage and Hour Act to pay their staff on scheduled paydays. Pay intervals range from daily to weekly to biweekly to monthly. If scheduled in advance, wages based on commissions, bonuses, or other calculations may be paid as infrequently as once a year. |
| Pay Statement | Employers in North Carolina must give workers a detailed written summary of all deductions from their salary for each pay period during which deductions are made. |
| Wage Deductions | In North Carolina, it is illegal for an employer to deduct money from an employee's paycheck unless there are particular reasons for doing so, such as when it's required by state or federal law (such as child support obligations or tax levies) when it's in the employee's best interest, when there is a shortage of cash or inventory, or when there has been a loss or damage to the employer's property. |
| Leaves of Absence | All employers are subject to the rules of North Carolina regarding mandated time off and leaves of absence for workers. These statutes cover parental school participation leave, military service, jury duty, emergency response, domestic violence, and precinct official leave. |
| Occupational Safety and Health | The Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina, which typically incorporates all federal regulations and establishes a small number of state-specific standards, is a requirement for most North Carolina employers. Some obligations under North Carolina law, such as those for safety committees and safety and health programs, lack an equivalent in federal law. |
| Smoke-Free Workplace | Smoking is prohibited in several private workplaces in North Carolina, including bars, restaurants, and long-term care institutions. |
| Weapons in the Workplace | Any private property where notice is prominently posted or provided by a statement from the person in charge of the property may forbid firearms (even with a valid concealed carry permit). |
| Safe Driving Practices | Texting while driving is forbidden in North Carolina. |
| Final Pay | North Carolina law stipulates that upon termination (voluntary or involuntary), earnings are owed on or before the following regular payday, either in the usual way of payment or by mail if the employee so requests.
Unless the employer has an explicit forfeiture clause in its vacation, commission, bonus, or termination policy, earned vacation money, commissions, and bonuses cannot be lost. |
