Worker Safety Act heads to governor after bipartisan passage
RALEIGH — A bill changing how North Carolina handles retaliatory employment discrimination complaints has been presented to Gov. Josh Stein after passing the General Assembly with bipartisan support.
House Bill 258, titled “Worker Safety Act of 2026,” was presented to the governor June 18, according to the General Assembly’s bill history. The bill passed the Senate 46-0 on second reading June 9 and the House concurred in the Senate committee substitute June 16 by a 108-5 vote.
Labor Commissioner Luke Farley praised the measure in a June 17 statement, saying it would modernize the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act complaint process and provide more clarity, transparency and efficiency.
The N.C. Department of Labor said the legislation establishes clearer requirements for filing REDA complaints, allows employers to submit position statements earlier in the process, clarifies how materials unrelated to an investigation are treated and standardizes how filing deadlines are calculated.
The bill also allows people who submit incomplete complaints an opportunity to correct deficiencies, according to the Labor Department.
Farley said the legislation would help the department investigate complaints and ensure workers receive timely and fair consideration of their allegations.
“North Carolina workers deserve a process that is transparent, quick and responsive — and job-creators deserve a process that allows all relevant facts to be heard,” Farley said in the release.
The bill had not been listed as signed in the General Assembly bill history reviewed Monday morning. Its latest listed action was presentation to the governor on June 18.
The measure is part of a broader set of labor and workplace proposals moving through the 2025-26 legislative session. If signed, the changes would affect the process used by workers, employers and state investigators in retaliatory employment discrimination cases.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
