Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

H.B. 546
                          GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                                              Apr 13, 2021
                                      SESSION 2021                                      HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
     H                                                                                                 D
                                   HOUSE BILL DRH10238-LR-62A
     Short Title:   NC Call Center Preservation Act.                                             (Public)
     Sponsors:      Representative Richardson.
     Referred to:
                                      A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT TO ENACT THE NC CALL CENTER PRESERVATION ACT.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
              SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "NC Call Center
 Preservation Act of 2021."
              SECTION 2. Article 3 of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes is amended by adding
 a new section to read:
 "§ 95-31.1. Call center job protection.
     (a)      Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section:
              (1)     Agency. – A State executive branch agency.
              (2)     Call center employer or employer. – Any business that employs for the
                      purpose of customer service or back-office operations:
                      a.      Fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or
                      b.      Fifty or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500
                              hours per week (exclusive of overtime hours).
              (3)     Commissioner. – The Commissioner of Labor.
              (4)     Part-time employee. – An employee who is employed for an average of fewer
                      than 20 hours per week or who has been employed for fewer than six of the
                      last 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required.
     (b)      Notice Requirements. – A call center employer that intends to relocate a call center,
 or one or more facilities or operating units within a call center comprising at least thirty percent
 (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, from North
 Carolina to outside the State shall notify the Commissioner at least 120 days before such
 relocation.
     (c)      Compilation. – The Commissioner shall compile a semiannual list of all call center
 employers that relocate a call center or one or more facilities or operating units with a call center
 comprising at least thirty percent (30%) of the call center's total volume of operations outside the
 State.
     (d)      Distribution. – The Commissioner shall distribute the list required in subsection (c)
 of this section to all agencies subject to this Chapter.
     (e)      Reversion. – Except as provided by this section, and notwithstanding any other
 provision of law, an employer that appears on the list described in subsection (c) of this section
 shall 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 as follows: y=-.8x3+ 100 repayments reaching zero percent (0%) at the five-year mark.
                                   *DRH10238-LR-62A*
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                 Session 2021
 For the purposes of this formula, "y" equals the percentage of payback and "x" equals the amount
 of time."
             SECTION 3. To recover the loss of call center employees within the State, the call
 center employer in partnership with the North Carolina Community College System shall
 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. Each relocating call center employer
 shall remit retraining tuition for its former employees to the office of the North Carolina
 Community College System to be used within 18 months of displacement or the tuition will be
 forfeited.
             SECTION 4. No provision of this act shall be construed to 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.
             SECTION 5. The provisions of this act are severable. If any of its provisions are
 declared to be invalid under the State or federal constitution, or preempted by federal law or
 regulation, the validity of the remainder of this act shall not be affected.
             SECTION 6. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to the relocation
 of call center jobs from this State on or after that date.
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