Amends GS 126-334.02(b) (Human Resources Act - grounds for grievance appeals) to add Subdivision (7) adding retaliation by a State employer for an employee or applicant’s refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine as one of the issues that can be heard as a contested case by the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to the North Carolina Human Resources Act (Act). Amends GS 126-5(a) (outlining employees subject to Act) to add local government employees and applicants for local government employment as individuals covered by the Act. Also amends GS 126-5 by adding subsection (c17) to state that State and local government employees and applicants have the right to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine without termination or retaliation. Amends Part 2 of Article 6 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes (Communicable Diseases – Immunization) to add GS 130A-157.5 establishing that individuals who refuse a COVID-19 vaccine have the same right to freely use State and local government buildings and land as an individual who receives a COVID-19 vaccine.