Workplace violence bill would expand no-contact order law to employers, mass picketing
RALEIGH — A North Carolina House committee is considering legislation that would expand workplace violence prevention law to allow employers, not only employees, to seek civil no-contact orders in certain situations involving threats, mass picketing or blocked access to a workplace.
Senate Bill 484, titled “Workplace Violence Prevention/Mass Picketing,” was scheduled Tuesday for the House Finance Committee, according to the North Carolina General Assembly calendar. The calendar listed a proposed committee substitute for consideration.
The bill passed the Senate in 2025 on a 40-7 second-reading vote. It was re-referred May 18 to the House Finance Committee, with an additional referral to Rules if approved.
The bill would amend Article 23 of Chapter 95 of the North Carolina General Statutes, the state’s workplace violence prevention law. According to the Legislative Reporting Service, the bill would add employers to provisions allowing a person to seek a civil no-contact order and would replace references to an employee’s workplace with broader references to a place of employment.
The proposal would add mass picketing, obstructing or interfering with entry to a place of employment, and obstructing or interfering with roads, streets and other travel ways to the types of conduct that could support a civil no-contact order.
A Senate committee substitute added a definition of “obstruction” as a deliberate or sustained physical blockage of an entrance or exit that causes disruption to operations or public safety.
The substitute also added language stating that the new article would not apply to peaceful demonstrations, informational picketing or labor activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act or the North Carolina Constitution, as long as the activity does not include violence, threats or intentional obstruction of a place of employment’s access points.
The bill is likely to draw attention because it touches both workplace safety and protest activity. Supporters may frame the proposal as a tool to protect employees, customers and businesses from threats or blocked access. Critics may focus on whether the bill could chill lawful protest or labor activity, though the current summary says protected peaceful activity is excluded unless it includes violence, threats or intentional obstruction.
If approved by House Finance, the bill would still need to clear House Rules before reaching the House floor.
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.
