House Bill 339, titled the Economic Security Act of 2025, is a broad labor, tax, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and retirement package. It would raise North Carolina’s minimum wage to $22 per hour beginning January 1, 2026, with annual inflation indexing thereafter, and would also change tipped wage rules so tips could no longer be counted as wages after January 1, 2026. The bill creates a new state equal pay law, requires paid sick leave for most workers, adds workplace heat-safety and emergency-evacuation protections, and expands anti-retaliation protections for workers who assert rights under these new provisions.
The bill also revises wage-theft enforcement by strengthening wage-claim remedies, adding liquidated and statutory damages in some cases, extending limitations periods for willful violations, and creating wage liens against employer property to secure unpaid wages. It would prohibit public employers from asking about criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment, limit disqualification based on criminal records, and require data collection and reporting on hiring outcomes. In addition, it repeals North Carolina’s ban on collective bargaining agreements for public employees, reenacts a state earned income tax credit, creates a refundable child and dependent care tax credit, increases unemployment insurance benefits and duration, and directs a study of coverage for self-employed and app-based gig workers.
The bill further creates a workers’ compensation presumption that certain covered workers who contract a pandemic infection did so in the course of employment, including first responders, health care workers, and employees required to work for essential businesses during a pandemic. It also provides a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for retirees in several state retirement systems and appropriates $250 million in recurring General Fund dollars to support that adjustment. Most provisions are effective when the act becomes law or on specified dates in 2025 or 2026, with some applying only to future employment or claims.
Because the bill was referred to the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations Committee and no committee transcripts or votes are available, there is no recorded floor debate or vote history to gauge formal support or opposition. Based on the bill’s content, it appears to advance a strongly pro-worker agenda, but it also imposes substantial new wage, leave, safety, and administrative obligations on employers and public agencies, which would likely be the main source of resistance. The inclusion of public-sector collective bargaining, a large minimum-wage increase, and new enforcement tools suggests the most likely points of contention are cost, regulatory burden, and the scope of labor rights expansion.
HB339 would substantially amend North Carolina labor, employment, tax, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and retirement statutes. It would rewrite the state minimum wage law, add a new equal pay article, create a paid sick leave regime, add workplace heat and emergency safety requirements, expand wage-theft remedies and lien rights, and alter retaliation protections. It would also change public employment hiring rules for criminal history, repeal the statutory ban on public employee collective bargaining agreements, reenact the state EITC, create a child and dependent care credit, increase unemployment benefits, add a pandemic occupational disease presumption, and fund retiree COLAs with a General Fund appropriation.
No committee discussion or votes are available in the provided record, so there is no documented legislative sentiment from debate or roll call. The bill’s structure indicates a clear pro-worker, pro-retiree policy direction, with multiple protections and benefit expansions for employees, retirees, and job applicants. At the same time, the breadth and cost of the proposal suggest it would likely draw significant scrutiny from business, local government, and fiscal conservatives.
The most notable likely points of contention are the size of the minimum wage increase, the mandate for paid sick leave, the repeal of public employee collective bargaining restrictions, and the new enforcement mechanisms for wage claims and workplace safety. Employers may also object to the tipped wage changes, heat-safety mandates, and expanded liability for wage violations, while public agencies may resist the hiring restrictions on criminal history and the administrative reporting requirements. Fiscal concerns may center on the unemployment benefit expansion, tax credits, and the $250 million recurring appropriation for retiree COLAs.