Bill > H1069

This bill, the 2016 NC Employee Protection Act, modifies existing North Carolina statutes related to employment verification and identification. Specifically, it redefines "employee" to exclude farm workers, independent contractors, and individuals providing sporadic domestic services in private homes, and it lowers the threshold for an entity to be considered an "employer" under state E-Verify laws from 25 to five employees. E-Verify is a federal program used to confirm an employee's eligibility to work in the United States. The bill also repeals a section of law that allowed law enforcement officers to use certain identification documents, like consular documents, which were previously restricted under other legislation, to determine a person's identity or residency when no other documents were available, addressing concerns that a previous exception was being exploited. Additionally, the Department of Labor will be required to include information on labor law posters about employer responsibilities and how to file complaints regarding violations of certain employment verification laws, with a small appropriation to cover the cost of producing these updated posters.