Running head: NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE BILL 544 ANALYSIS 1

North Carolina House Bill 544 Analysis

Taylor Holmes

Briar Cliff University

December 2, 2018
NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE BILL 544 ANALYSIS 2

OUTLINE

I. Abstract

II. Introduction

III. Historical Background

a. Wage benefits in North Carolina

b. Original management of wage benefits in North Carolina

c. Legislative history of policy

IV. Problems the Policy Addresses

a. Domestic violence statistics

b. Demographics of North Carolina workers

c. Loss of income or job security

V. Description of Policy

a. Functionality of policy

b. Enforcement and implementation of policy

VI. Analysis of Policy

a. Analysis of policy goals

b. Quality of life

c. Feasibility of policy
NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE BILL 544 ANALYSIS 3

Abstract

This paper serves as an analysis of proposed North Carolina House Bill 544, or Healthy Families

& Workplaces/Paid Sick Days. The proposed law will give all workers in the state of North

Carolina the opportunity to accrue paid sick days from the time they are employed. These sick

days will be able to be utilized at the discretion of each individual for caring for their own or an

immediate family members physical or mental needs, as well as the physical, psychological, or

legal effects of domestic violence or harassment without losing pay or their job.

Keywords: HB 544, Healthy Families & Workplaces, Paid Sick Days, North Carolina
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North Carolina House Bill 544 Analysis

House Bill 544, or the Healthy Families & Workplaces/Paid Sick Days, was introduced

by the House on March 30, 2017 by Representatives Fisher, Farmer-Butterfield, Cunningham,

and Insko. This bill seeks to ensure all workers in the state of North Carolina are able to earn

paid sick days to address an of their or their family’s health needs.

Historical Background

Employers in the state of North Carolina have the ability to determine their own policy in

regard to the accrual and utilization of paid sick leave. According to the North Carolina

Department of Labor, employers are not required to give mandatory wage benefits to employees,

regardless of how many hours they work each week. Wage benefits include things such as

vacation pay, jury duty pay, sick leave, and holiday pay (N.C. Department of Labor, 2018).

Employers are also not required by law to provide any type of paid or unpaid sick leave benefits

but may be required to provide unpaid sick leave benefits as required under the Family and

Medical Leave Act, or FMLA (Employment Law Handbook, 2018). FMLA provides employees

with 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year in order to birth and care for a newborn child, foster care

or adoptive child placement, care for an immediate family member with a serious health

condition or if they themselves have a serious health condition (U.S. Department of Labor,

2018). However, these benefits are only accessible to eligible employees. In order to be

considered eligible, an employee must be employed by a public agency, public or private school,

or at a company with at least 50 employees. The employee must have worked for the employer

for at least 12 months, and 1,250 total hours over a 12-month period (U.S. Department of Labor,

2018). Although one reason an employee may be allowed FMLA leave is to give birth to and
NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE BILL 544 ANALYSIS 5

care for a newborn, any time an employee must take off due to pregnancy complication can be

subtracted from the 12 total weeks (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018).

Due to the current regulations regarding the availability of paid sick leave for all

employees, not just those who fit a certain criterion, many employees in the state of North

Carolina are left with making a decision between tending to their own or family’s medical needs

and losing income or potentially their job completely. If the illness of an employee or family

member of an employee is not serious enough to be covered by FMLA, an employer can

terminate an employee for not showing up to work. This means that the employee themselves

will have to report to work with a possibly contagious illness or send their possibly contagious

child or family member to school or work (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). This

inevitably will result in more people getting sick, in the worst-case scenario an outbreak begins.

There are currently no requirements that allow employees to utilize paid sick leave for handling

any physical, psychological, or legal effects of domestic violence or assault.

House Bill 544 was introduced on March 30, 2017 by Representative Susan Fisher,

Representative Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Representative Carla Cunningham, and Representative

Verla Insko. On April 3, 2017, House Bill 544 passed the first reading in the House. As of April

3, 2017, House Bill 544 was referred to the Committee on Health. If it is favorable in that

committee, it will be passed to the Committee of Commerce and Job Development and then to

the Committee of Appropriations if it is found favorable in the Committee of Commerce and Job

Development.

Problems Addressed

In North Carolina, more than 101,000 women reported being physically abused by their

husband or boyfriend between 2015 and 2016. North Carolina also saw 1,174 homicides caused
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by domestic violence between 2002 and 2016 (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). 1.3

million North Carolinians working in the private sector are not entitled to paid sick days, and

60% of low-income workers earn less than $20,000 per year, making them ineligible for accruing

paid sick leave (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). Low wage jobs are defined as any job

that pays an employee less than $1,250 per month. As of 2012, 31% of the workforce in North

Carolina consisted of low-wage jobs (Department of City & Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel

Hill, 2013).

Without being able to utilize paid sick days to tend to their own or immediate family

member’s illness, or to tend to their own healthcare needs following domestic violence or sexual

assault, many North Carolinians would risk losing invaluable income or their jobs. This lack of

regulation directly affects workers who do not qualify for FMLA leave or whose employers do

not offer certain employees paid sick days. Children of employees who are not eligible for sick

leave are also affected because when parents are able to care for their sick children, “the

children’s recovery is faster, more serious illnesses are prevented, and the children’s overall

health is improved” (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017).

Description of Policy.

House Bill 544 will create a blanket regulation of paid sick days across the state of North

Carolina. The bill proposes that all individuals employed by any company in the state should be

entitled to earned paid sick leave which allows them to address their own health care needs and

those of their families. Under House Bill 544, there will be a universal entitlement meaning all

employees in the state of North Carolina will be able to accrue paid sick time from the time they

are employed instead of being required to meet a certain number of hours or be employed for a

certain amount of time (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). Employees will accrue paid
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sick time “at the rate of one hour of pay for every 30 hours worked” (North Carolina General

Assembly, 2017). Unless otherwise designated by the employer and employee, paid time off will

be counted on an hourly basis, or the smallest increment used by the employer’s payroll system

to account for any absences or leave (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). When an

employee is employed by a small business, there will be a limit of 32 hours of paid sick leave in

one calendar year, and for other employers the limit will be 56 hours of accrued paid sick leave.

There will be no “use-it-or-lose-it” policy, any time that an employee does not use shall roll over

year to year. In the event an employee is separated from a company, but rehired within 90 days of

separation, the sick time accrued and not used prior to separation will be reinstated (North

Carolina General Assembly, 2017).

The Commissioner of Labor will be appointed to enforce the conditions stated in House

Bill 544. The Commissioner and their appointed representative will be able to hold hearings in

the event an employee files a complaint against an employer for violating the conditions of this

bill. If an employer does in fact violate House Bill 544, the General Court of Justice can hold the

employer liable to pay the “employees affected in the amount of their unpaid sick time as the

case may be, plus interest at the legal rate set forth in G.S. 24-1 from the date each amount first

came due” (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). The court can also order the employer to

pay and costs and fees related to the case, as well as reasonable attorney fees, or the employee

will be held responsible if the court finds the case is superficial (North Carolina General

Assembly, 2017). The Commissioner can then determine any amounts due to the employee and

will supervise payments made to the employee related to a violation of House Bill 544. However,

acceptance of these payments will result in a forfeiture of the employee’s rights to recover

liabilities from the employer (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017). The conditions stated in
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House Bill 544 serve as a minimum requirement in regard to paid sick time. The enactment of

this bill would not mean that employers should not adopt policies more generous than the

requirements made by House Bill 544. Furthermore, employers who have a paid sick leave

policy that is more generous than that stated by House Bill 544 will not be required to modify

their current policy (North Carolina General Assembly, 2017).

The Commissioner of Labor and the General Court of Justice will be responsible for

enforcing the requirement laid out by House Bill 544. However, each employer in the state of

North Carolina will be responsible for funding paid sick leave requests made by employees, as

well as any damages to be paid in the event a complaint is filed by an employee. House Bill 544

does not have a sunset date, as it is expected to replace the current state regulation of paid sick

leave for employees.

Policy Analysis.

The goals set forth in House Bill 544 are legal. There are currently no laws on the federal

level that require employers provide paid sick leave to employees, but states are allowed to

enforce their own requirements in regard to paid sick leave. Currently, only 10 states and

Washington D.C. require employers to provide employees paid sick leave (Brainerd, 2018).

Rhode Island currently has a similar law on the books titled Healthy and Safe Families and

Workplaces Act (Regunberg, Craven, Serpa, Maldonado, & Fogarty, 2017). The goals set forth in

House Bill 544 are also just and democratic because they have a positive effect on the

redistribution of income and opportunities. By requiring employers to allow all employees, not

just full-time positions, the opportunity to accrue paid sick leave, North Carolina is ending the

cycle of forcing mostly low-wage employees to choose between their own health and safety or

that of an immediate family member, and ensuring they have the income to maintain their
NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE BILL 544 ANALYSIS 9

household. Through the simple act of being able to accrue paid sick leave, employees that do not

meet FMLA or other employer requirements for accrual of sick leave will be able to hold a better

sense of job security in the event they or an immediate family member gets sick, they have legal

responsibilities in regard to domestic violence, sexual assault/harassment, or stalking, or they

need to tend to their own or a family member’s mental health needs. These opportunities also

contribute to a better quality of life in the target population. Quality of life is defined as “the

degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable, and able to participate in or enjoy life

events” (Jenkinson, 2016). House Bill 544 promotes the overall health of all employees and their

family members by not forcing an employee to go to work while possibly contagious or send a

sick child to school while contagious, spreading illnesses, out of fear of losing income or their

jobs. HB 544 also promotes the comfortability of employees by allowing any employee who has

been or is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault/harassment, or stalking with the

opportunity to take legal action against their perpetrator or tend to physical and psychological

needs without fearing a loss of income or their jobs.

HB 544 is consistent with the value of professional social work dignity and worth of the

person. This value states that “social workers seek to enhance clients' capacity and opportunity to

change and to address their own needs” (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). This bill

is centered around the premise that all employees should be allotted the opportunity to care for

their own, as well as their immediate families, physical and mental health care needs, and their

safety following domestic or sexual assault, and stalking.

This policy is economically feasible because employers would be responsible for

covering sick paid leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked by an employee. The

policy will be effective and efficient because other states who have implemented policies such as
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these see little impact on employers, and in some cases the state saves money on government

assistance. California’s paid family leave program allots both men and women the opportunity to

take paid leave following the birth of a child. Analysis of the effectiveness of this policy has

shown that women who live in states with paid leave programs are less likely than women who

do not take leave after the birth of a child and continue working to receive public assistance or

food stamp income (National Partnership for Women and Families, 2018). This can be applied to

HB 544 because when employees are able to take paid sick leave, they will not lose vital income

and may be less likely to receive public assistance as a whole or may not need as much in

government assistance benefits. In conclusion, the Healthy Families & Workplaces/Paid Sick

Days bill (HB 544) will increase the overall quality of life, sense of dignity and sense of job

security for all North Carolinian employees.

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References

Brainerd, J. (2018, May 29). Paid sick leave. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-sick-leave.aspx

Department of City & Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. (2013). Low-wage workers.

Retrieved October 24, 2018, from http://www.lowwagenc.org/low-wage-workers/

Employment Law Handbook. (n.d.). North Carolina leave laws. Retrieved October 21, 2018,

from https://www.employmentlawhandbook.com/leave-laws/state-leave-laws/north-

carolina/

Jenkinson, C. (2016, May 10). Quality of life. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/quality-of-life

N.C. Department of Labor. (2018). Promised wages including wage benefits. Retrieved October

24, 2018, from https://www.labor.nc.gov/workplace-rights/employee-rights-regarding-

time-worked-and-wages-earned/promised-wages-including

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of Ethics. Retrieved August 26, 2018,

from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-

English

National Partnership for Women and Families. (2018). Paid leave research. Retrieved October

24, 2018, from http://www.nationalpartnership.org/issues/work-family/paid-leave-

resources.html

North Carolina General Assembly. (2017, April 3). House Bill 544 (2017-2018 Session).

Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://www2.ncleg.net/BillLookup/2017/H544

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Regunberg, Craven, Serpa, Maldonado, & Fogarty. (2017, February 8). Chapter 347. Retrieved

October 24, 2018, from

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/PublicLaws/Law17/law17347.htm

U.S. Department of Labor. (2018). FMLA (Family & Medical Leave). Retrieved October 23,

2018, from https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla