Exempt Positions Come In Under Allotment | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release

    Raleigh, NC  -  Out of the 500 exempt positions allotted to Governor Pat McCrory in House Bill 834, he has designated 339 positions as exempt managerial or exempt policymaking.

    HB 834 is the second piece of legislation to increase exempt positions in state government. HB 834 was designed to authorize the exempt workforce to a maximum of 1,500 positions.

    The governor notified the General Assembly and the Office of State Human Resources of the positions designated on October 1 in compliance with the law. There are now 1,303 exempt managerial and exempt policymaking positions in the cabinet agencies, or 1.5 percent of the 86,000 employees in state government. However, of the 1,312 employees in the exempt positions, 74 percent have career status or 10 years of career service which means they have some form of re-employment priority or right.

    The exempt managerial and policymaking positions serve at the will of the governor or his designee because their duties directly affect the execution of the governor’s policies.

    HB 834 added the Office of Information Technology Services, the Office of State Budget and Management, and the Office of State Human Resources to the agencies that may designate exempt positions. Previously, the General Assembly authorized 1,000 exempt positions in cabinet departments.



    Additional Information

    Exempt policymaking and exempt managerial positions are exempt from the certain provisions of the State Human Resources Act. Those provisions are Article 2 (Salaries, Promotions, and Leave of State Employees), Article 3 (Local Discretion as to Local Government Employees), Article 4 (Competitive Service), Article 5 (Political Activity of Employees) (but only as to policymaking exempt positions), Article 8 (Employee Appeals of Grievances and Disciplinary Actions), Article 10 (Interchange of Governmental Employees), Article 12 (Work Options Program), and Article 13 (Veteran's Preference).

    Employees who were first hired by the state before June 30, 2013, who have obtained career status (after 24 months of continuous employment in a permanent position) but have not been employed 10 years, and are removed from a position that is designated as exempt for reasons other than just cause, have a onetime priority to a vacant position for which they are qualified. Employees who have 10 or more years of state service in a non-exempt position and are removed from an exempt –designated policymaking or exempt managerial position for reasons other than just cause must be provided with a job at the same pay rate earned in the last subject position. Persons hired on or after June 30, 2013 do not have those protections.


        Call: 919-814-2100
        Email: govpress@nc.gov