NC CALL CENTER PRESERVATION ACT.

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View NCGA Bill Details2021
House Bill 546 (Public) Filed Tuesday, April 13, 2021
AN ACT TO ENACT THE NC CALL CENTER PRESERVATION ACT.
Intro. by Richardson, Setzer, Goodwin.

Status: Re-ref to the Com on Commerce, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action) (May 6 2021)
H 546

Bill Summaries:

  • Summary date: Apr 13 2021 - View Summary

    Enacts new GS 95-31.1 requiring a call center employer that intends to relocate to out of state a call center, or one or more facilities or operating units within a call center comprising at least 30% of the call center's or operating unit's total volume when measured against the previous 12-month average call volume of operations, or substantially similar operations, to notify the Commissioner of Labor (Commissioner) at least 120 days before the relocation. Requires the Commissioner to compile a semiannual list of all such relocations and distribute the list to agencies subject to GS Chapter 95. Defines call center employer or employer as any business that employs for the purpose of customer service or back-office operations: (1) 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees or (2) 50 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week (exclusive of overtime hours). Requires an employer that appears on the list described to remit the unamortized value of any grants, guaranteed loans, tax benefits, or any other governmental support it has previously received to the Commissioner on a graduated scale formula provided. 

    Requires the call center employer in partnership with the North Carolina Community College System to implement a program for the retraining of affected employees who have become unemployed due to the relocation of a call center outside of the State. Requires each relocating call center employer to remit retraining tuition for its former employees to the office of the NC Community College System to be used within 18 months of displacement or the tuition will be forfeited. 

    Provides that the act does not permit withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under any other State law (including State unemployment compensation, disability payments, or worker retraining or adjustment funds) to workers employed by call center employers that relocate outside the State.

    Includes a severability clause.