Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements in North Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Ordinary payroll may be as infrequent as monthly

G.S. 95-25.6 expressly permits daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly pay periods. Monthly is therefore the least frequent ordinary recurring schedule. Whatever lawful cycle the employer chooses, all wages and tips accruing to the employee must be paid on the regular payday.

The Act defines payday as the day designated for payment of wages due from the employment relationship. It does not add a separate fixed lag—such as seven or ten days—after the pay period closes.

Calculated wages have a narrow annual option

Bonuses, commissions, and wages based on another form of calculation may be paid as infrequently as annually, but only when that arrangement is prescribed in advance. That exception does not authorize an annual schedule for ordinary hourly or salary wages merely because the employer prefers it.

The payday must be disclosed at hiring

Section 95-25.13 requires written notice at hiring of the promised wages and the day and place for payment. The employer must also make its promised-wage practices and policies available in writing or through an accessible posted notice.

The statute separately requires at least one pay period's written notice before a change in promised wages. Its current text does not expressly extend that advance-notice period to every change in the designated payday, so the two notice duties should not be merged.

Recovery for missing the regular payday

Section 95-25.22 covers violations of the wage-payment sections. An affected employee may sue for the unpaid amount plus legal interest. The court ordinarily awards an equal amount as liquidated damages, although it may reduce or deny that additional amount if the employer proves good faith and reasonable grounds. The Commissioner may also sue at affected employees' request. The statute allows the court to award costs and reasonable attorneys' fees and sets a two-year limitations period.

What trips people up

North Carolina does not require every employer to use weekly or biweekly payroll. Monthly is expressly listed as a lawful ordinary pay period.

The annual option is wage-type specific. It applies to bonuses, commissions, and other forms of calculation when prescribed in advance, not to all earnings of every commissioned employee without regard to how the wages are earned.

The Wage and Hour Act's familiar minimum-wage and overtime exemptions do not automatically remove private employees from § 95-25.6. Section 95-25.14(a)-(c) limits those exemptions to the provisions it names. State and local government, however, are excluded from the wage-payment provisions by subsection (d).

Common questions

May a North Carolina employer pay once a month?

Yes. Monthly is one of the pay periods expressly allowed by § 95-25.6.

How soon after a monthly period must wages be paid?

The statute requires payment on the regular payday but does not state a separate number of days after the period closes. The designated payday and disclosed wage policy therefore matter.

Can commissions be paid once a year?

They may be paid as infrequently as annually if that schedule is prescribed in advance. Without that advance prescription, the annual exception does not apply.

Statutes and sources

• G.S. 95-25.2(9)-(10). Definitions of payday and allowed pay periods. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• G.S. 95-25.6. Regular-payday requirement, ordinary frequencies, and the prescribed annual calculated-wage option. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• G.S. 95-25.13. Hiring, posting, and promised-wage change notices. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• G.S. 95-25.14(d). Public-sector exclusion from wage-payment provisions. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• G.S. 95-25.22. Unpaid amounts, interest, liquidated damages, civil actions, fees, and limitations. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• SB 326 / HB 339 and HB 353 (2025-2026 Session). Pending notice and enforcement proposals. Official SB 326 status and official HB 353 status (checked September 9, 2026).