Parental school involvement leave — four-hour annual entitlement
North Carolina requires all employers to grant four hours of leave per year to any employee who is a parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis of a school-aged child to attend or otherwise be involved at that child's school. The leave must be at a mutually agreed upon time. Employers may require 48 hours' advance written notice and written verification from the school. The leave is unpaid unless the employer allows use of paid time off. Employers cannot discharge, demote, or take adverse employment action against employees who request or take this leave.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-28.3
Domestic violence leave — reasonable time off for protective orders
North Carolina prohibits employers from discharging, demoting, denying a promotion, or disciplining an employee who takes reasonable time off from work to obtain or attempt to obtain relief under Chapter 50B (domestic violence protective orders). Employees must follow the employer's usual time-off policy or procedure, including advance notice when required, unless an emergency prevents compliance. Employers may require documentation of any emergency that prevented advance notice or other information supporting the employee's reason for absence. The statute does not specify a maximum duration for "reasonable time off." The North Carolina Commissioner of Labor enforces these protections.
Jury duty leave — discharge and demotion prohibited
North Carolina prohibits employers from discharging or demoting any employee because the employee has been called for jury duty, or is serving as a grand juror or petit juror. This protection under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-32(a) applies to all employees called for jury service in either state or federal court. The statute covers the full cycle of jury service — from receiving a summons through actual service on a jury.
Prohibited employer actions
An employer may not:
- Discharge an employee for jury service
- Demote an employee for jury service
The statute does not explicitly enumerate other adverse employment actions (such as reducing hours, eliminating benefits, or imposing attendance penalties), although the discharge and demotion prohibitions are categorical. The law does not require employers to pay employees during jury service; leave for jury duty is unpaid unless the employer voluntarily provides compensation or permits the employee to use accrued paid time off.
Enforcement and remedies
An employer who violates N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-32 is liable in a civil action for reasonable damages suffered by the employee as a result of the violation. Under subsection (b), an employee bringing such a claim bears the burden of proof. The statute of limitations for actions under this section is one year, as specified in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-54. Employees may file suit directly in North Carolina courts to recover damages; there is no administrative exhaustion requirement with a state agency before bringing a civil action.
Interaction with federal FLSA salary-basis rules
North Carolina law does not address how employers should handle jury duty absences for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, federal regulations under 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(2) permit employers to offset jury fees (and witness fees or military pay) that an exempt employee receives during a workweek against the salary due for that week, without violating the salary-basis test. Employers cannot make deductions from an exempt employee's salary for jury duty absences unless the employee performs no work during the entire workweek.
No minimum service requirement
The statute contains no minimum tenure, hours-worked threshold, or employer-size limitation. All North Carolina employers — regardless of number of employees — must comply, and the protection extends to all employees from their first day of employment.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-32