North Carolina background check laws for employers (2026): what you can check and when

North Carolina adds few rules to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act for private employers, and most concern records the courts have cleared. Employers may not require disclosure of, or knowingly ask about, expunged arrests, charges or convictions, and since December 2021 dismissed and not-guilty cases are expunged automatically. A Certificate of Relief shields an employer from negligent hiring claims. Nursing homes, home care agencies and their staffing agencies must run criminal history checks after a conditional offer. We found no state ban-the-box, credit check or lookback law for private employers as of October 2026.

This page covers those rules, the checks required in health care and child care, and how they land on staffing agencies. For the federal steps, see our FCRA background check process; for the rest of North Carolina hiring, including E-Verify and new hire reporting, see hiring employees in North Carolina.

North Carolina background check rules at a glance

Can North Carolina employers ask about expunged records?

No. G.S. 15A-153(c) says an employer "shall not, in any application, interview, or otherwise, require an applicant for employment ... to disclose information concerning any arrest, criminal charge, or criminal conviction of the applicant that has been expunged and shall not knowingly and willingly inquire about any arrest, charge, or conviction that they know to have been expunged." Under subsection (b), a person who leaves out an expunged record is not guilty of perjury or a false statement.

The same section is clear about the other side: "Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an employer from asking a job applicant about criminal charges or convictions that have not been expunged and are part of the public record." So a North Carolina application may ask about convictions, as long as it does not reach expunged ones. A safe wording adds "Do not include any arrest, charge or conviction that has been expunged."

Enforcement sits with the Commissioner of Labor. Under subsection (f), a first violation brings a written warning and each later one a civil penalty of up to $500, scaled to the size of the business, the gravity of the violation, good faith and history.

Are dismissed charges automatically expunged in North Carolina?

Yes, for newer cases. Under G.S. 15A-146(a4), if all charges in a case are disposed on or after December 1, 2021, and all are dismissed or end in a finding of not guilty or not responsible, the charges "are expunged by operation of law not less than 180 days and not more than 210 days after the date of final disposition." A felony charge dismissed under a plea agreement is excluded.

Two consequences for recruiters. A dismissed charge on a commercial report may already be expunged, so do not ask the candidate about it. And a candidate who answers "no arrests" may be answering correctly under the law. Use the federal pre-adverse action window to let them show a record was expunged before you decide.

How does a Certificate of Relief protect North Carolina employers?

A court may issue a Certificate of Relief under G.S. 15A-173.2 to a person convicted of no more than three Class H or I felonies and any misdemeanors, at least twelve months after completing the sentence, with no pending charges and other conditions met. The certificate relieves many collateral sanctions but is not an expunction or a pardon, and it is revoked automatically by a later conviction other than a traffic violation.

For employers, G.S. 15A-173.5 is the key: "a Certificate of Relief is a bar to any action alleging lack of due care in hiring, retaining, licensing ... or otherwise transacting business or engaging in activity with the individual," if the employer "relied on the Certificate of Relief at the time of the alleged negligence." Keep a copy in the hiring file and note that you relied on it. See what is negligent hiring for the claim it answers.

Which North Carolina jobs require criminal history checks?

Nursing homes and home care agencies

Under G.S. 131E-265(a), an offer of employment by a licensed nursing home for a position that does not need an occupational license, or by a home care agency for a position that requires entering the patient's home, "is conditioned on consent to a criminal history record check." If the applicant has lived in North Carolina less than five years, the check is state and national and "shall include a check of the applicant's fingerprints"; otherwise it is a state check.

If the check shows a relevant offense, subsection (b) requires considering seven factors: the level and seriousness of the crime, its date, the person's age at conviction, the circumstances, the nexus to the job duties, the person's record since the crime, and any later relevant offense. "The fact of conviction of a relevant offense alone shall not be a bar to employment." An employer that disqualifies someone may tell them the relevant information but "may not provide a copy of the criminal history record check" to the applicant. Conditional employment before results is allowed under subsection (f), once consent is obtained.

Child care and schools

• Child care. G.S. 110-90.2 makes criminal history checks mandatory for child care providers, including people employed or seeking employment at a regulated child care facility, temporary staff and substitutes. The provider's fingerprints are forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation for the search.
• Public schools. G.S. 115C-332 requires each local board of education to adopt a policy on whether and when applicants for school personnel positions must be checked before an unconditional job offer. School personnel include contractors with significant access to students, such as bus drivers, custodians and substitutes. Check the district's policy.

Does North Carolina limit criminal history timing, lookbacks or credit checks?

• Timing. We found no statewide ban-the-box statute for private employers. See ban-the-box laws and interview questions for the multi-state approach many teams use.
• Lookback. No state statute found; the federal FCRA bars reporting arrests and other non-conviction items older than seven years unless the job pays $75,000 or more, and sets no limit for convictions (15 U.S.C. § 1681c).
• Credit checks. North Carolina is not among the states in our credit check laws guide; the FCRA disclosure and notices govern.
• Salary history. No statewide ban for private employers; see our salary history ban list.

What this means for staffing agencies

• Health care placements make you responsible. G.S. 131E-265(a1) applies the same consent rule to "a contract agency of a nursing home or home care agency," bars employing an applicant who refuses consent, and requires the agency to submit the request "within five business days of making the conditional offer of employment," to the State Bureau of Investigation or, for a state check, to a private entity. The seven-factor review in subsection (b) applies to the agency too.
• Remove expunged-record questions from your own forms. G.S. 15A-153(c) applies to any employer's application or interview.
• Collect Certificates of Relief. Share them with the client, with the candidate's permission, so the client can rely on them as well.
• Keep notes clean. See what not to write in interview notes.

A North Carolina background check checklist

1. Applications that ask about convictions also say that expunged records need not be disclosed.
2. No questions about dismissed or acquitted charges, which may already be expunged.
3. Federal stand-alone disclosure and written authorization signed before ordering a report.
4. Any Certificate of Relief copied into the hiring file, with a note that you relied on it.
5. Nursing home, home care and contract agency offers made conditional on consent, with the check requested within five business days and the seven factors documented.
6. Before a decision: federal pre-adverse action notice with the report and summary of rights, then the final notice.

Hiring in nearby states? See the companion pages for Virginia and Georgia.