North Carolina Employment Legal Questions

Employers are not required to give you vacation pay.  If the employer does, then it must pay you for any vacation that is accrued but unused at the time your employment ends.  However, the employer is allowed to have a forfeiture policy whereby you forfeit your vacation if it is not used at the time your employment ends. As for commissions, it will depend on the actual pay policy, but, in general, you probably will need to be working at the time the commission is paid or unequivocally earned the commission prior to the end of the employment.   For more information or to file a complaint over unpaid vacation or commissions, you can contact the NC Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. ... Read More

I am not sure what your question is exactly.  It is correct that, for purposes of an audio recording, North Carolina is a one party consent state.  That means that you cannot be held criminally liable for the felony of wire tapping if you record a conversation that you are a part of because you consented whether the other parties consented or not.   However, the criminal law has almost nothing to do with employment law.  The employment law allows an employer to ban any and all forms of recording in its workplace and to terminate an employee who audio-records any conversation in the workplace. ... Read More

Yes, it is possible. North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination. In this case, it sounds like the employer simply accpeted your resignation.  However, even if you had not quit, it could lawfully fire you (see above).  Unfortunately, the District Manager and the HR Rep are not legally required to communicate with you. ... Read More

I have handled a number of these types of claims. Basically, the insurance adminstrator for COBRA purposes, which may or may not be the employer, must send the COBRA paperwork within the time provided by law. If it does not do so, it is subject to a per day fine of upto $110 and attorneys fees.  Further, it will be responsible for any uncovered or non-reimbursed medical costs if same would have been covered under the health plan if the employee had not left employment.  ... Read More

These questions are not per se unlawful in North Carolina.   However, the questions about your children may be evidence of discrimination against you because you are female.  If you were not hired because you are female, it would be unlawful. You would need to file a charge with the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of learning that you had not been hired due to being female. It is not wise for someone to ask about age, but it is not unlawful to do so.  Additionally, only employees or applicants who are 40 or older are protected from age discrimination. ... Read More

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination. So the short answer is: yes you can be let go and you will not have a claim unless one of the above applies. However, you may want to consult with an experienced employment attorney to go more in depth about your facts.   ... Read More

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination.   The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees who work for covered employers with up to 12 weeks of leave for a serious health condition.  Not all employers and not all employees are covered by FMLA.  The serious health condition can be the employee's own or of an immediate family member. If an employee on FMLA is able to return to work in 12 weeks or less, then the employer must return the employee to the same or equivalent position.  Employees are also allow to take FMLA on a intermittent basis (here and there as needed).FMLA makes it unlawful for a covered employer to interfere with an employee's FMLA rights or leave or retaliate against an employee for exercising FMLA rights.  If you were not eligible for FMLA or had used all FMLA, you could lawfully be terminated.... Read More

How is it possible?  Well, they have one employee drug tested and not the other. What form of discrimination is this?  There is no information here that provides an answer so it may not be discrimination at all.  However, it really will not matter whether it is discrimination or not unless it is discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Then it will only matter if the discrimination leads to an adverse employment action such as termination. ... Read More

Yes, your employer can terminate you for failing a polygraph.  However, unless your employment or your situation meet one of the exemptions in the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, your employer may be in violation of the law if it requested or required you to submit to a polygraph. You should consult with an experienced employment attorney to get more detailed information. ... Read More

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state where she can be fired for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all.  Employers are not required to allow employees to take time away from work due to illness or disability unless the time is covered by FMLA or, in limited situations, the Americans With Disabilities Act.  If she worked for an FMLA covered employer, and she was a covered employee, your girlfriend would have been entitled to 12 weeks of FMLA leave.  If she used all of that leave for her mother's surgery, then she would have had none to use for herself.... Read More

Employers are not required to provide vacation, but if they do, they can use whatever restrictions they want.  In general, employers cannot reduce the salary of a salaried exempt employee for time missed from work except when the employee misses a whole day.  Effectively, the employer is not required to accommodate your pregnancy unless it accommodates other medical or health conditions for non-pregnancy related matters.   Your employer is not required to allow you to have time off from work for your pregnancy if you are not eligible for FMLA.  Once you become eligible, then the employer can deduct time away from work for your pregnancy from your FMLA allotment.  ... Read More

The conduct of the supervisor, by itself, is not unlawful.  Your employer's HR department and management are aware of that which is why they did not do more.  However, the conduct could be unlawful if, and only if, it is being directed to you due to any of the following: race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age if you are 40 or older. I cannot tell, but it sounds like this might be happening to you and another person because you are over the age of 40 or perhaps because of a medical condition (disability).  If so, you should speak to an experienced employment attorney immediately. ... Read More

Depends on the situation.  Unless the harassment is due to a protected class such as race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older, it is not unlawful meaning that there is no legal claim.  If it is because of one of these classes, then you should consult with an experienced employment attorney. ... Read More