NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1975 SESSION

CHAPTER 413
HOUSE BILL 541

AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS THE UNIFORM WAGE PAYMENT LAW OF NORTH CAROLINA.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Definitions for the purposes of this act: (a) The term "employer" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, administrator or executor of an estate, or the receiver, trustee, successor or assign of the same, employing any person. Provided, that any officer, agent, or supervisory personnel, having or sharing in the management responsibilities of a corporation, who shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of this act shall be considered an employer and held jointly and severally liable with the corporation for said violation.
(b)	The term "employee" includes any person suffered or permitted to work by an employer.
(c)	The term "wages" means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation.
(d)	The term "pay day" shall mean that day designated for payment of wages due by virtue of the employment relationship.
(e)	The term "pay period" shall mean a period of seven or 14 calendar days, or a calendar month.
(f)	The term "commissioner" means the Commissioner of Labor.
Sec. 2.  Application of this act. This act shall apply only to employers and employees subject to the provisions of the North Carolina Minimum Wage Act as amended or as same may be amended.
Sec. 3.  Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly pay period. (a) Every employer shall pay all wages due to his employees weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, on pay days designated in advance by the employer, in lawful money of the United States or with checks on banks convenient to the place of employment where suitable arrangements are made for the cashing of such checks by employees for the full amount of the wages due.
(b)	The employee shall receive on the current pay day all wages accruing to said employee, as of the preceding pay period, by virtue of the employment relationship. The employer shall not withhold any wages from the employee as security for the performance of assigned tasks.
(c)	Vacation pay, when it is a matter of employment practice or policy, or both, shall be considered wages pursuant to Section 1(c) when due.
Sec. 4.  Employees who are separated from the payroll before pay days. (a) When an employer discharges an employee, the employer shall pay the employee's earned wages not later than the next regular pay day.
(b)	Whenever an employee voluntarily terminates the employment relationship, the employer shall pay the employee's earned wages not later than the next regular pay day as provided under Section 2 of this act, either through the regular pay channels or by mail if requested by the employee.
(c)	When work of an employee is suspended as a result of a labor dispute, or when an employee for any reason whatsoever is laid off, the employer shall pay to such employee not later than the next pay day, as designated under Section 2 of this act, either through the regular pay channels or by mail if requested by the employee, wages earned up to and including the time of actual suspension or layoff.
(d)	If an employer fails to pay an employee wages required under subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section, after the employee makes a demand for payment, such employer shall be additionally liable to the employee for liquidated damages in the amount of ten percent (10%) of the unpaid wages for each day, except Sunday and legal holidays, upon which such failure continues after the day upon which payment was required or in an amount equal to the unpaid wages, whichever is less. Provided that, for the purpose of such liquidated damages, such failure shall not be deemed to continue after the date of the filing of a petition in bankruptcy with respect to the employer if he is adjudicated bankrupt upon such petition.
Sec. 5.  Unconditional payment of wages conceded to be due. (a) In case of a dispute over the amount of wages due, the employer shall pay, without condition and within the time set by this act, all wages, or parts thereof, conceded by him to be due, leaving to the employee all remedies he might otherwise be entitled to, including those provided under this act, as to any balance claimed.
(b)	The acceptance by an employee of a payment under this section shall not constitute a release as to balance of his claim and any release required by an employer as a condition to payment shall be in violation of this act and shall be null and void.
Sec. 6.  Withholding of wages. No employer may withhold or divert any portion of an employee's wages unless:
(a)	The employer is required or empowered to do so by State or federal law; or
(b)	The employer has a written authorization from the employee for deductions of a lawful purpose accruing to the benefit of the employee as provided in regulations issued by the commissioner; or
(c)	The deductions are, pursuant to any rule or regulation, for medical, surgical, or hospital care or service, without financial benefit to the employer and openly, clearly, and in due course recorded in the employer's books.
Sec. 7.  Notification, posting, and records. Every employer shall:
(a)	Notify his employees in writing, at the time of hiring, of the rate of pay, policies on vacation time and pay, sick leave and comparable matters, and the day, hour and place for payment of wages;
(b)	Make available to his employees in writing or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to his employees, employment practices and policies with regard to vacation pay, sick leave, and comparable matters;
(c)	Notify his employees in writing or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to his employees, of any changes in the arrangements specified above prior to the time of such changes;
(d)	Furnish each employee with an itemized statement of deductions made from his wages under Section 5 of this act for each pay period such deductions are made;
(e)	Keep posted in a place accessible to his employees an abstract of this act furnished by the commissioner; and
(f)	Make and preserve such records of the persons employed by him, including wage and hour records, and make such reports therefrom to the commissioner, as the commissioner shall from time to time prescribe by regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act.
Sec. 8.  Provisions of law may not be waived by agreement. Except as provided in Section 10, no provision of this act may in any way be contravened or set aside by private agreement.
Sec. 9.  Enforcement. (a) The commissioner shall enforce and administer the provisions of this act and the commissioner or his authorized representative is empowered to hold hearings and to otherwise investigate charges of violations of this act and to institute actions for penalties hereunder.
(b)	The commissioner or his authorized representative is empowered to enter and inspect such places, question such employees, and investigate such facts, conditions, or matters as they may deem appropriate, to determine whether any person has violated any provision of this act or any rule or regulation issued hereunder.
(c)	The commissioner or his authorized representatives shall have power to administer oaths and examine witnesses, issue subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, records, payrolls, documents, and to take depositions and affidavits in any proceeding before said commissioner.
(d)	At the conclusion of any proceeding before the commissioner or his authorized representative, he shall make findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order appropriate action be taken between the parties involved. If within 15 days after receipt of his order, the parties have failed to comply, the commissioner shall enforce his order by seeking execution in the District Court of North Carolina, Wake County Division.
(e)	Appeal procedure. In the case of failure of any person to comply with any subpoena lawfully issued, or on the refusal of any witness to testify to any matter regarding which he may be lawfully interrogated, it shall be the duty of the District Court of North Carolina, on the application by the commissioner filed in Wake County, to compel obedience through a proceeding for contempt, as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued from such court for a refusal to testify therein.
Sec. 10.  Penalties. Any employer who willfully violates any provisions of Sections 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of this act or fails to comply with any other requirement of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), for each separate offense, or by imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both in the discretion of the court.
Sec. 11.  Employee's remedies. (a) Action by an employee to recover unpaid wages and/or liquidated damages may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in the behalf of himself or themselves, or such employee or employees may designate an agent or representative to maintain such action.
(b)	Actions may be maintained by the commissioner under Section 8 herein upon request by the employee made in the form of a complaint filed with the commissioner. The commissioner shall proceed as representative of the employee(s) to recover unpaid wages or enforce compliance with the provisions of this act. The commissioner shall have power to join various claimants in one preferred claim or lien against a single employer.
(c)	The court in any action brought under this section shall, in addition to any judgment awarded plaintiff(s) allow costs of the action, including cost or fees of any nature, and reasonable attorney's fees to be paid by the defendant. Such attorney's fees in the case of actions brought under this section by the commissioner, shall be awarded to the State and remitted by the commissioner to the Department of State Treasurer. The commissioner shall not be required to pay the filing fee or other costs or fees of any nature or compile bond or other security of any nature in connection with such action or with proceedings supplementary thereto as a condition precedent to the availability of the commissioner to any process in aid of such action or proceedings.
Sec. 12.  Rules and regulations. The commissioner is authorized to issue such rules and regulations as he determines necessary for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this act.
Sec. 13.  Severability of provisions. If any provision of this act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the act, and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be invalid thereby.
Sec. 14.  This act shall become effective January 1, 1976.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 27th day of May, 1975.