Chapter 96

(a) Title. - This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Employment Security Law." (b) Definitions. - The following definitions apply in this Chapter: (1) Agricultural labor. - Defined in section 3306 of the Code. (2) Average weekly insured wage. - The weekly rate obtain…

(a) Interest on Past-Due Contributions. - Contributions unpaid on the date on which they are due and payable, as prescribed by the Division, shall bear interest at the rate set under G.S. 105-241.21 per month from and after that date until payment plus accrued interest is receive…

(a) Authority. - The Secretary may compromise an employer's liability under this Article when the Secretary determines that the compromise is in the best interest of the State and makes one or more of the following findings: (1) There is a reasonable doubt as to the amount of the…

The Division must maintain a separate account for each employer. The Division must credit the employer's account with all contributions paid by the employer or on the employer's behalf and must charge the employer's account for benefits as provided in this Chapter. The Division m…

Benefits paid to an individual are charged to an employer's account quarterly. Benefits paid to an individual must be allocated to the account of each base period employer in the proportion that the base period wages paid to the individual in a calendar quarter by each base perio…

(a) To Specific Employer. - Benefits paid to an individual under a claim filed for a period occurring after the date of the individual's separation from employment may not be charged to the account of the employer by whom the individual was employed at the time of the separation …

(a) Charges for Errors. - An employer's account may not be relieved of charges relating to benefits paid erroneously from the Unemployment Insurance Fund if the Division determines that both of the following apply: (1) The erroneous payment was made because the employer, or the a…

(a) Refund of Contributions Credited to Wrong Account. - When contributions are credited to the wrong account, the erroneous credit may be adjusted only by refunding the employer who made the payment that was credited in error. This applies regardless of whether the employer to w…

The Division must determine the ratio of the credit balance in each employer's account to the total of the credit balances in all employers' accounts as of the computation date. The Division must allocate an amount equal to the interest credited to this State's account in the Une…

(a) Acquisition of a Business. - When an employer acquires all of the business of another employer, the account of the predecessor must be transferred as of the date of the acquisition to the successor for use in the determination of the successor's contribution rate. This subsec…

(a) Account Closed. - When an employer ceases to be an employer under G.S. 96-11.9, the employer's account must be closed and may not be used in any future computation of the employer's contribution rate. An employer has no right or claim to any amounts paid by the employer into …

(a) By Law. - An employer that has not paid wages for two consecutive calendar years ceases to be an employer liable for contributions under this Chapter. (b) By Application. - An employer may file an application with the Division to terminate coverage. An application for termina…

(a) Purpose. - The purpose of this Article is to provide temporary unemployment benefits as required by federal law to an individual who is unemployed through no fault on the part of the individual and who is able, available, and actively seeking work. Benefits are payable on the…

The disciplinary suspension of an employee for 30 or fewer consecutive calendar days does not constitute good cause for leaving work. An individual who is on suspension is not available for work and is not eligible for benefits for any week during any part of the disciplinary sus…

(a) Duration. - An individual may be disqualified from receiving benefits for the remaining weeks of the claim's duration if one or more subsections of this section apply. The period of disqualification under this section begins with the first day of the first week after the disq…

(a) Disqualification for Benefits. - An individual is disqualified for benefits if the Division determines either of the following: (1) The individual is customarily self-employed and can reasonably return to self-employment. (2) The individual or the individual's spouse is unemp…

An individual is disqualified from receiving benefits for any week for which the individual receives any sum from the employer pursuant to an order of a court, the National Labor Relations Board, or another adjudicative agency or by private agreement, consent, or arbitration for …

(a) General Provisions. - Extended benefits payable under sub-subdivision (b)(5)a. of this section shall be paid as required under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Extended benefits payable under sub-subdivisions (b)(5)b. and (b)(5)c. of this sect…

(a) Benefits Payable. - Unemployment benefits are payable in response to the coronavirus emergency in any of the following circumstances: (1) An employer temporarily ceases operations due to the coronavirus, preventing the individual from going to work. (2) An employer reduces th…

(a) Extended Benefit Period. - With respect to determining whether the State is in an extended benefits period beginning November 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021, the State shall disregard the requirement in G.S. 96-14.14(b)(3) that no extended period may begin before the four…

(a) Weekly Benefit Amount. - The weekly benefit amount for an individual who is totally unemployed is an amount equal to the wages paid to the individual in the last two completed quarters of the individual's base period divided by 52 and rounded to the next lower whole dollar. I…

(a) Duration. - The number of weeks an individual is allowed to receive unemployment benefits depends on the seasonal adjusted statewide unemployment rate that applies to the six-month base period in which the claim is filed. One six-month base period begins on January 1 and one …

(a) Determination. - The Division must determine the reason for an individual's separation from work. An individual does not have a right to benefits and is disqualified from receiving benefits if the Division determines that the individual left work for a reason other than good …

(a) Disqualification. - An individual who the Division determines is unemployed for misconduct connected with the work is disqualified for benefits. The period of disqualification begins with the first day of the first week the individual files a claim for benefits after the misc…

(a) Failure to Supply Necessary License. - An individual is disqualified for benefits if the Division determines that the individual is unemployed for failure to possess a license, certificate, permit, bond, or surety that is necessary for the performance of the individual's empl…

An individual is not disqualified for benefits for leaving work for one of the reasons listed in this section. Benefits paid on the basis of this section are not chargeable to the employer's account: (1) Military spouse relocation. - Leaving work to accompany the individual's spo…

(a) Requirements. - An individual's eligibility for a weekly benefit amount is determined on a week-to-week basis. An individual must meet all of the requirements of this section for each weekly benefit period. An individual who fails to meet one or more of the requirements is in…

(a) Generally. - Claims for benefits must be made in accordance with rules adopted by the Division. An employer must provide individuals providing services for it access to information concerning the unemployment compensation program. The Division must supply an employer with any…

(a) Initial Unemployment. - An individual is unemployed for the purpose of establishing a benefit year if one of the following conditions is met: (1) Payroll attachment. - The individual has payroll attachment but because of lack of work during the payroll week for which the indi…

(a) No person may discharge, demote, or threaten any person because that person has testified or has been summoned to testify in any proceeding under the Employment Security Act. (b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be liable in a civil action for reas…

If any person shall by threats, menace, or in any other manner intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person who is summoned or acting as a witness in any proceeding brought under the Employment Security Act, or prevent or deter, or attempt to prevent or deter any person summone…

(a) Purpose. - The Board of Review (BOR) is created to determine appeals policies and procedures and to hear appeals arising from the decisions and determinations of the Division. The Department of Commerce must assign staff to the BOR. The BOR and its staff must perform their jo…

(a) A seasonal pursuit is one which, because of seasonal conditions making it impracticable or impossible to do otherwise, customarily carries on production operations only within a regularly recurring active period or periods of less than an aggregate of 36 weeks in a calendar y…

(a) Waiver of Rights Void. - Any agreement by an individual to waive, release, or commute his rights to benefits or any other rights under this Chapter shall be void. Any agreement by any individual in the employ of any person or concern to pay all or any portion of an employer's…

(a) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to make a false statement or representation knowing it to be false or to knowingly fail to disclose a material fact to obtain or increase any benefit under this Chapter or under an employment security law of any other state, the federal…

(a) Applicability. - This section applies to an individual who has been provided notice of a determination or an appeals decision finding that the individual, or another individual acting in the individual's behalf and with the individual's knowledge, has knowingly done one or mo…

(a) It is the purpose of this Chapter to secure for employers and employees the benefits of Title III and Title IX of the Federal Social Security Act, approved August 14, 1935, as to credit on payment of federal taxes, of State contributions, the receipt of federal grants for adm…

As a guide to the interpretation and application of this Chapter, the public policy of this State is declared to be as follows: Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of this State. Involuntary unemployment is …

The Employment Security Section of the Division of Employment Security, Department of Commerce, shall establish and maintain free public employment offices in such number and in such places as may be necessary for the proper administration of this Chapter, and for the purpose of …

The duties of the Employment Security Section include the following: (1) To cooperate with all State and federal agencies in attempting to secure suitable employment and fair treatment for military veterans and disabled veterans. (2) To establish and use a worker profiling system…

The Employment Security Section shall have jurisdiction over all matters contemplated in this Article pertaining to securing employment for all minors who avail themselves of the free employment service. The Employment Security Section shall have power to so conduct its affairs t…

(a) Agreement. - The Department of Commerce is authorized to enter into agreement with the governing authorities of any municipality, county, township, or school corporation in the State for such period of time as may be deemed desirable for the purpose of establishing and mainta…

It shall be lawful for the Employment Security Section to receive, accept, and use, in the name of the people of the State, or any community or municipal corporation, as the donor may designate, by gift or devise, any moneys, buildings, or real estate for the purpose of extending…

It shall be lawful for the governing authorities of any municipality, county, township, or school corporation in the State to enter into cooperative agreement with the Employment Security Section and to appropriate and expend the necessary money upon such conditions as may be app…

All federal funds received by this State under the Wagner-Peyser Act (48 Stat. 113; Title 29, U.S.C., section 49) as amended, and all State funds appropriated or made available to the Employment Security Section shall be paid into the Employment Security Administration Fund, and …

Every State agency shall list with the Division of Employment Security every job opening occurring within the agency which opening the agency wishes filled and which will not be filled solely by promotion or transfer from within the existing State government work force. The listi…

The Division of Employment Security (DES) is created within the Department of Commerce and shall administer the provisions of this Chapter under the supervision of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce. (Ex. Sess. 1936, c. 1, s. 10; 1941, c. 108, s. 10; c. 279, ss. 1-3; 1943, c. 37…

The General Assembly finds it in the best interests of this State that the establishment, maintenance, and funding of State job training, education, and placement programs be based on current, comprehensive information on the effectiveness of these programs in securing employment…

As used in this Article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the term: (1) "CFS" means the common follow-up information management system developed by the Labor and Economic Analysis Division under this Article. (2) Repealed by Session Laws 2012-134, s. 5(b), effective…

(a) The Department of Commerce, Labor and Economic Analysis Division (LEAD), shall develop, implement, and maintain a common follow-up information management system for tracking the performance measures related to current and former participants in State job training, education, …