Are NC state employee sick, vacation, bonus, and compensatory leave balances public records the UNC system must disclose?
Plain-English summary
A UNC system administrator asked the AG whether the Public Records Act required disclosure of state employees' (1) sick leave balances, (2) vacation leave balances, (3) compensatory time accrued, and (4) bonus leave balances. The request was for all employees of the University system.
The AG framed the question between two statutes that pull in different directions. N.C.G.S. § 126-22 makes state employee "personnel files" confidential. § 126-23 lists categories of employee information that must be kept open for public inspection: name, age, employment date, contract terms, position, current salary, salary change history, position changes, and current assignment. In 2007, Session Law 2007-508 amended § 126-23 to add a salary definition: "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.
The first move was to ask whether leave time is a "benefit" or "other form of compensation" under the new definition. The AG concluded yes. Paid leave time is axiomatically an employee benefit, and several statutes treat it as compensation (N.C.G.S. § 135-1(7a)(a)(4) on payout of vacation leave; § 135-4(e) on sick leave in retirement benefit calculations; S.L. 2002-126, s. 28.3B on Family Medical Leave).
The second move addressed the requestor's worry that "current salary" only required disclosure of "current benefits." The AG agreed with the standard statutory-construction reading: the amendment requires disclosure of current benefits, not historical benefit information. But "current benefits" includes the amount of accumulated leave time the employee has available for use at the time of inspection. Accrued leave is part of the present compensation package. The UNC system therefore had to release accumulated leave balances.
Conclusion: sick leave, vacation leave, bonus leave, and compensatory time are all "current benefits" within § 126-23 and must be available for inspection and copying.
Currency note
This opinion was issued circa 2008. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
The state public-personnel-records statutes have been amended since 2008, and the State Human Resources Manual has been updated. Anyone responding to a current leave-balance request should pull the current versions of §§ 126-22 and 126-23.
Common questions
Q: At the time of the opinion, was a UNC employee's vacation balance public?
A: Yes. The AG concluded accrued vacation balances were "current benefits" subject to disclosure under § 126-23 as amended by Session Law 2007-508.
Q: What about historical leave information?
A: The opinion focused on "current" leave balances. The amendment addresses current benefits, not historical movement of leave hours. Anyone seeking historical leave usage would need a separate analysis.
Q: Was the personnel-file confidentiality in § 126-22 overridden?
A: § 126-22 still protects personnel-file information generally, but § 126-23 carves out a list of items that must be public. Leave balances, the AG concluded, fall within the § 126-23 carve-out because they are "benefits" within the amended definition of "salary."
Q: Does this apply to local government employees too?
A: The opinion addressed § 126-23, which covers state employees. Parallel statutes for local boards of education, community colleges, and cities/counties received virtually identical amendments in Session Law 2007-508, so the analysis would likely extend to those local entities too.
Background and statutory framework
The two-statute framework:
- N.C.G.S. § 126-22. State employee personnel files are confidential. "Personnel file" covers application, selection, promotion, demotion, transfer, leave, salary, contract for employment, benefits, suspension, performance evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination. Also includes home address, SSN, medical history, personal financial data, marital status, dependents, beneficiaries.
- N.C.G.S. § 126-23. Each state agency must maintain a public record of name, age, original employment date, employment contract terms, current position, title, current salary, salary change history, position-change history, and current office or station. After the 2007 amendment, "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.
The 2007 amendment to § 126-23 came from Session Law 2007-508, the same act that drove the related opinion on retirement benefit confidentiality. The amendment expanded the universe of compensation information that public agencies must disclose.
The supporting statutes on leave-as-compensation:
- N.C.G.S. § 135-1(7a)(a)(4): "compensation" includes payout of vacation leave.
- N.C.G.S. § 135-4(e): sick leave factored into retirement benefit calculations.
- S.L. 2002-126, s. 28.3B: Family Medical Leave benefits supplemental to other benefits.
The leading case under the broader Public Records Act is News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Poole, 330 N.C. 465 (1992), recognizing that the Public Records Act grants public access absent a specific statutory exemption.
The opinion was signed by Chief Deputy Attorney General Grayson G. Kelley.
Citations
- N.C.G.S. § 126-22 (state personnel files confidential)
- N.C.G.S. § 126-23 (public employee information that must be kept open)
- N.C.G.S. § 132-1 (Public Records Act definition)
- N.C.G.S. § 135-1(7a)(a)(4) (compensation includes vacation leave payout)
- N.C.G.S. § 135-4(e) (sick leave in retirement calculations)
- S.L. 2002-126, s. 28.3B (Family Medical Leave)
- Session Law 2007-508 (2007 amendment)
- News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Poole, 330 N.C. 465 (1992)
Source
Original opinion text
- Sick leave balances;
- Vacation leave balances;
- Compensatory time accrued; and
- Bonus leave balances
It is our understanding that a request has been made for this information as applicable to all employees of the University system.
The North Carolina Public Records Act, Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, requires every custodian of public records to allow for their inspection at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision, and to furnish copies upon payment of fees as prescribed by law. Public records, as defined by NCGS §132-1, are records "made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions, including public universities." Therefore, absent a specific statutory exception, the University system is required to provide the requested public records. See News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Poole, 330 N.C. 465 (1992).
One such exception is found in NCGS §126-22, which restricts the release of "personnel files" of state employees. "Personnel File" is defined as employment-related or personal information gathered by an employer related to an individual's "application, selection, promotion, demotion, transfer, leave, salary, contract for employment, benefits, suspension, performance evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination." Confidential personnel file information also includes an individual's home address, social security number, medical history, personal financial data, marital status, dependents, and beneficiaries.
This exception, however, must be applied in conjunction with NCGS §126-23 which requires that certain employee information be kept open for public inspection. With respect to each employee, a public record must be maintained showing name, age, date of original employment or appointment to State service, the terms of any employment contract, current position, title, current salary, date and amount of most recent increase or decrease in salary, date of most recent promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification, and the office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. In 2007, an amendment to this section further defined the employee information required to be kept open by adding:
For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.
S.L. 2007-508, s. 4.
In view of these provisions, responding to your question requires a determination as to whether sick leave, vacation leave, compensatory time and bonus leave were intended by the legislature to be encompassed within the definition of "salary" included in the 2007 amendments to the statute. More specifically, is leave time a "benefit" or "other form of compensation" and therefore within the definition of "salary"? It would appear to be axiomatic that paid leave time is an employee benefit. Furthermore, there are several provisions of North Carolina law which reference leave time as a form of compensation or a benefit. See, e.g. NCGS §135-1(7a)(a)(4) ("compensation" shall include payout of vacation leave); NCGS §135-4(e) (sick leave shall be factored into retirement benefit calculations); S.L. 2002-126, s. 28.3B (Benefits under this section [Family Medical Leave] are supplemental to any benefit to which an employee may otherwise be entitled). It is therefore our opinion that leave time is a benefit within the definition of "salary" in NCGS §126-23 and required to be kept open for public inspection.
You also ask, however, whether the statute requires "leave balances" to be made public. You note that inasmuch as NCGS §126-23 requires that only "current salary" be kept public, an argument can be made that the legislative intent in enacting the 2007 amendment defining "salary" was to require that only "current benefits" be open for inspection. You therefore suggest that accrued leave balances are not "current benefits" and that only amounts of leave earned during a "current" period are required to be kept open.
We are not aware of any case law, regulation, or other guidance which answers this question. Therefore, we agree that under standard principles of statutory construction a plain reading of the 2007 amendment dictates that only "current benefits" must be available for inspection. However, it is our view that "current benefits" includes the amount of accumulated leave time that an employee has available for use at the time the inspection is requested. As such, it is our opinion that NCGS §126-23 requires the University system to provide the accumulated leave time for the employees in question.
In conclusion, it is the opinion of this Office that leave time is a benefit required to be kept open for public inspection in accordance with NCGS §126-23. Sick leave balances, vacation leave balances, bonus leave balances, and compensatory time accrued are therefore current benefits which should be made available for inspection and copying upon request. Please contact me if further assistance is required.
Very truly yours,
Grayson G. Kelley
Chief Deputy Attorney General