Minimum Wage
The minimum wage is $7.25 per hour (effective July
24, 2009). Certain full-time students may be paid 90 per¬
cent of the minimum wage rounded to the lowest nickel.
An employer may pay as little as $2.13 per hour to tipped
employees so long as each employee receives enough
in tips to make up the difference between the wages paid
and the minimum wage. Employees must be allowed to
keep all tips, except that pooling is permitted if no
employee’s tips are reduced more than 15 percent. The
employer must keep an accurate and complete
record of tips as certified by each employee for each
pay period. Without these records, the employer may
not be allowed the tip credit.
Overtime
The N.C. Wage and Hour Act N.C. General Statute §95-
25.4, and the comparable federal law, the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA), regulate wage rates for overtime pay.
Unless specifically exempted, employees who work more
than 40 hours during any workweek must be paid time
and one-half based on an employee’s regular rate of pay,
except after 45 hours at seasonal recreational and
amusement establishments.
The overtime rate applies to each hour, or fraction of an
hour, worked after more than 40 in any workweek. Certain
salaried employees may also be eligible for overtime for all
hours worked in excess of 40 or 45 hours, unless otherwise
exempted.
The state overtime provision does not apply to some
employers and employees who are exempt.
Youth Employment
Rules for all youths under 18 include: Employment
certificates are required. Hazardous, detrimental and
prohibited work is not permitted.
Additional rules for 16- and 17-year-olds include: No
work between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. when there is school the
next day. Exception: When the employer gets written
permission from the youth's parents and principal.
Additional rules for 14- and 15-year-olds include: Work
can be performed at retail businesses, food service estab¬
lishments, service stations and offices of other businesses.
Work is not permitted in manufacturing or mining, on con¬
struction sites, with power-driven machinery, or on the
premises of a business holding an ABC permit for the on¬
premises sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
♦ Maximum hours per day: Three on school days; eight
if a nonschool day.
♦ Maximum hours per week: 1 8 when school is in ses¬
sion; 40 when school is not in session.
♦ Hours of the day: May work only between 7 a.m. and
7 p.m. (except to 9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day).
♦ Breaks: 30-minute breaks are required after any peri¬
od of five consecutive hours of work.
Additional rules for youths under 14 include: Work is
generally not permitted except when working for the
youth's parents, in newspaper delivery to the consumer,
modeling, or acting in a movie, television, radio or theatri¬
cal production.
These state youth employment provisions do not apply to
farm, domestic or government work.
Wage Payment
Wages are due on the regular payday. If requested, final
paychecks must be mailed. When the total of wages due
is in dispute, the employer's payment of the undisputed
portion cannot restrict the right of the employee to con¬
tinue his or her claim for the rest of the wages.
Employees must be notified of paydays, pay rates, policies
on vacation pay plans, sick leave, and of commission,
bonus and other pay matters.
Deductions From Pay
♦ Deductions from paychecks are limited to those required
by law and those agreed to in writing on or before payday.
♦ When the deduction amount is known and agreed upon
in advance, the employee's written authorization must
be signed on or before the payday from which the
deduction is made and must indicate the reason for the
deduction.
♦ When the deduction amount is not known, the employee
must receive advanced written notice of the total to be
deducted, must receive written notice of his or her right
to withdraw the authorization, and must be given a rea¬
sonable opportunity to withdraw the authorization in writ¬
ing.
♦ Deductions for the benefit of the employer must com¬
ply with the following: In non-overtime workweeks,
wages may be reduced to the minimum wage level; in
overtime workweeks, wages may be reduced to the
minimum wage level for non-overtime hours; and no
reductions may be made to overtime wages owed.
♦ In addition to complying with the requirements above,
deductions for cash or inventory shortages or for loss
or damage to an employer's property may not be taken
unless the employee receives seven days advance
notice. This seven-day rule does not apply to these
deductions made at termination.
♦ Recoupment of an overpayment of wages resulting from a
miscalculation or other bona fide error, advances of wages
to employee or to a third party at the employee’s request,
or the principal of a loan from the employer to the employ¬
ee does not require an authorization from the employee.
Deductions for interest and other charges related to loans
require a written authorization as described above.
♦ When criminal process has been issued, the employee
has been indicted or arrested for a charge incident to a
cash shortage, inventory shortage or damage to an
employer’s property, the employer may withhold or
divert without written authorization any portion of
wages owed to recoup the total owed by the employee
for such shortages or damage. The limits established
for overtime and non-overtime workweek still apply. If
the employee is not found guilty, the deduction shall be
reimbursed to the employee.
♦ A written authorization or written notice required of this
section may be in the form of an electronic record in com¬
pliance with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
♦ Nothing in this section shall preclude an employer
from bringing a civil action to collect any money due
the employer from the employee.
Any employer who provides vacation pay plans to
employees shall give vacation time off or payment in lieu
of time off in accordance with the company policy or prac¬
tice. Employees must be notified in writing, or through a
posted notice, of any company policy or practice that
results in the loss or forfeiture of vacation time or pay.
Employees not so notified are not subject to such loss or
forfeiture.
The wage payment provisions apply to all employers
doing business in North Carolina except federal, state
and local governments.
