RALEIGH — North Carolina’s largest overhaul of state personnel law in more than 60 years takes effect Thursday, beginning a transition that will change how agencies hire, compensate and manage employees.
The Public Workforce Modernization Act replaces Chapter 126 of the General Statutes with a new Chapter 126A. Gov. Josh Stein signed the measure, Senate Bill 1041, on July 6 after unanimous bipartisan passage in the General Assembly.
The law’s effective date is Oct. 1, but implementation will continue beyond that date. The Office of State Human Resources is revising its policy library, preparing training and developing systems needed to carry out the changes. The office says the statute will control if an existing personnel policy conflicts with Chapter 126A before that policy is formally amended.
For state employees, the law expands paid parental leave to as many as 12 weeks for both parents following a birth or another qualifying event. The new policy applies to qualifying events occurring on or after Oct. 1. The law also codifies bereavement leave, authorizes performance-based compensation or leave incentives and preserves promotional priority for career state employees.
New workers will remain subject to a probationary period that may be extended once by six months. The law also revises the grievance process, including a 120-day resolution period and authority to combine related grievances.
For applicants, the overhaul creates additional entry routes through apprenticeships, fellowships and temporary or time-limited positions that may convert more quickly to permanent jobs. It extends the veterans’ hiring preference to spouses of active-duty service members and formally authorizes JoinNC to provide recruitment assistance for permanent and nonpermanent jobs.
Agencies will receive more direct authority over job classifications and greater flexibility involving compensation. The temporary-to-permanent hiring window will fall from six months to three months, according to the state human resources office.
The law does not mean every planned policy or technology change will be complete Thursday. State officials describe Oct. 1 as the start of a broader rollout that will include policy amendments, manager and staff training, and continuing review of classification and compensation systems.