Are state employees' accrued sick, vacation, and bonus leave balances a public record that anyone can ask to see?
Plain-English summary
A University of North Carolina system attorney asked the Attorney General whether four specific categories of employee benefit information could be released in response to a public records request:
- Sick leave balances
- Vacation leave balances
- Compensatory time accrued
- Bonus leave balances
The request covered all employees of the University system.
The AG walked through the layered statutory scheme. N.C.G.S. § 132-1 makes records made or received in connection with public business public records, presumptively open. N.C.G.S. § 126-22 then carves out "personnel files" as confidential. But N.C.G.S. § 126-23 carves back into that confidentiality, listing categories of information about each employee that the agency must keep open for inspection (name, age, original employment date, current position and title, current salary, etc.).
The pivotal 2007 amendment (Session Law 2007-508, sec. 4) added a definition: for purposes of § 126-23, "salary" includes "pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity."
The University attorney raised a plain-text question: § 126-23 requires disclosure of "current salary," and after the 2007 amendment "salary" includes "benefits." Does that mean only current benefits are public, with accrued (historical) leave balances staying confidential? The AG conceded the textual point, then concluded that accumulated leave time is itself a "current benefit." The employee can use the accumulated leave today, this week, or next year. The balance is a present-tense benefit, not a stale historical record.
The opinion is signed by Grayson G. Kelley, Chief Deputy Attorney General.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2009. 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 North Carolina personnel-records statutes have been amended multiple times since 2009, including amendments addressed in the AG's 2010 opinion on the same chapter. Anyone relying on this rule in 2026 should reconfirm the current text of N.C.G.S. § 126-22 and § 126-23 and check for court decisions, particularly any from the North Carolina Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, that may have refined the analysis.
Common questions
Q: What counts as an "accrued" leave balance?
A: The amount of leave the employee has earned and not yet used, available for use as of the date the records request is made.
Q: Does the AG opinion address other benefits like retirement contributions or health insurance?
A: It addresses leave categories specifically (sick, vacation, comp time, bonus leave). Other benefits would be analyzed under the same statutory framework (benefits as part of "salary" under § 126-23) but may have their own statutory protections.
Q: Could an employee opt out of disclosure?
A: No. The public-records and personnel-disclosure statutes are not waivable by the employee. If § 126-23 requires the agency to keep the information open for inspection, the agency must comply with a proper request.
Q: Does this rule apply to local government and school district employees?
A: The AG's opinion was about the University system. But § 126-23 applies to State employees broadly, and parallel statutes apply to local government, school district, community college, and other public employees. The 2007 amendment that drove the analysis was part of a larger bill that revised those parallel statutes too.
Q: Can a requester get this information without paying a fee?
A: The Public Records Act allows agencies to charge actual cost for copies (paper or electronic) but not for inspection. The opinion does not address fees specifically.
Q: What about leave balances of employees who have already left?
A: The opinion addresses "current" benefits of "the employees in question." Leave balances of separated employees are likely subject to different analysis under retention rules and the personnel-file confidentiality provisions; this opinion does not cover them.
Background and statutory framework
North Carolina's personnel-records regime is built around three statutes working together: § 132-1 (broad public records), § 126-22 (personnel files confidential), and § 126-23 (specific information required to be open). The General Assembly amended § 126-23 in 2007 to expand the definition of salary to include benefits and other forms of compensation, part of a broader transparency push.
The 2009 opinion is one of two opinions issued on the same day on the same statutes (the index shows two entries dated 2009-06-15 about Public Records Act and accrued leave balances, both signed by Grayson Kelley). The AG read the 2007 amendment liberally in favor of disclosure, citing the statutory-construction principle that courts construe Public Records Act exceptions narrowly and the general policy favoring openness in News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Poole, 330 N.C. 465 (1992).
Citations
- N.C.G.S. § 132-1 (Public Records Act definition)
- N.C.G.S. § 126-22 (personnel file confidentiality)
- N.C.G.S. § 126-23 (information required to be made available)
- Session Law 2007-508, sec. 4 (amendment defining "salary" to include benefits)
- News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Poole, 330 N.C. 465 (1992)
Source
- Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/legal-services/archived-opinions/
Original opinion text
The Honorable [recipient name not preserved in source fetch]
[Date header and salutation not preserved in source fetch]
The categories of leave information at issue are:
- 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.
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