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Previous Updates
Civil Air Patrol Law
Effective December 1, 2023, North Carolina law protects employees who serve in the North Carolina Wing-Civil Air Patrol.
The law prohibits an employer from discriminating against, terminating, demoting or taking any other adverse action against an employee who is a member of the air patrol based on their membership or any authorized absence required to perform air patrol duties.
An air patrol member's absence from work is authorized if it meets all of the following requirements:
- The absence is necessary to perform duties incident to a State-approved mission for assistance in natural or man-made disasters or other emergency situations or a US Air Force-authorized mission;
- The absence is for a maximum of seven consecutive scheduled working days for that employee; and
- The total absences in a calendar year are a maximum of 14 scheduled working days for that employee.
An employer does not have to pay an employee their salary or wages during their absence for air patrol duty, but an employee may choose to use any available paid leave during this time.
An employer may require an employee to provide a copy of their mission order.
Anti-Discrimination Ordinances
Below is a summary of recent employment anti-discrimination ordinances that have been passed in North Carolina.
| Municipality | Employment |
| Apex | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the town) on the basis of race, natural hair style, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran or military status, religion, religious belief or non-belief, age, disability, genetic information, or disabled veteran status. |
| Asheville | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the city and anyone acting on such a person’s behalf) on the basis of race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religious belief or non-belief, age, and disability. |
| Buncombe County | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the county and anyone acting on such a person’s behalf) on the basis of race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religious belief or non-belief, age, and disability. |
| Charlotte | Prohibits discrimination by an employer on the basis of race, natural hairstyle, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, marital status, familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religion, age, and disability. |
| Chatham County | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons and anyone acting on such person’s behalf) on the basis of race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, national ancestry, marital status, familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religion, religious belief or non-belief, age, or disability. |
| Hillsborough | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the town and anyone acting on such person’s behalf) on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religious belief, age and disability. |
| Winston-Salem | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the city) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, protected hairstyles, pregnancy, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, familial status, or political affiliation. |
Anti-Discrimination Ordinances
Below is a summary of employment anti-discrimination ordinances that have been passed in North Carolina since the end of last year.
| Chapel Hill | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the town and anyone acting on such a person’s behalf) on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, national ancestry, marital status, familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religion, religious belief or non-belief, age, and disability. |
| Carrboro | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the town and anyone acting on such a person’s behalf) on the basis of race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religious belief or non-belief, age, and disability. |
| Durham | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the city and anyone acting on such person’s behalf) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or protected hairstyle. |
| Greensboro | Prohibits discrimination by an employer, regardless of size, on the basis of color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender identity) or race or national origin (including hair texture and hairstyles that are commonly associated with race or national origin). |
| Hillsborough | Prohibits discrimination by an employer (i.e., any person employing 1+ persons within the town and anyone acting on such person’s behalf) on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, veteran status, religious belief, age and disability. |
Changes to North Carolina Wage and Hour Act
The Governor has signed into law changes to the way employers in North Carolina establish pay at the beginning of the employment relationship, make changes during employment, and provide final wages at the end of employment.
The new law makes three important changes to North Carolina’s wage payment laws:
- Employers must provide employees with written notice of their promised wages and the day and place for payment at the outset of employment. Under the prior law, this notice could be oral. An employee’s signature on an employer’s written notice of the promised wages that bears the date on which the employee was provided with the notice shall be presumptive evidence of the employer’s notification.
- During employment, notice of any decrease in wages must be provided in writing to the employee at least one pay period before they take effect. Under the prior law, the notice period was only 24 hours. There is no advance notice requirement for increasing wages.
- At the end of employment, final wages must be paid either through the regular pay channels or by trackable mail if requested by the employee in writing. Previously, the final paycheck could be sent by mail if requested by the employee, now the request must be made by the employee in writing and the mail must be trackable. The final paycheck must still be provided by the next regularly scheduled pay date.
The North Carolina Department of Labor has not issued accompanying regulations at this time but reach out to your FrankAdvice HR Consultant as needed.
