State

North Carolina's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, effective July 24, 2009, under NC Wage and Hour Act / NC DOL overtime guidance. — Source

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North Carolina wage calculators

North Carolina's Wage and Hour Act (NCGS Chapter 95, Article 2A) mirrors FLSA for most private employers but creates a separate state enforcement mechanism for smaller businesses below the $500,000 gross-sales FLSA enterprise threshold.

Current verified rates

Rates are read from the shared source registry. Values marked unverified in the registry render nothing.

North Carolina minimum wage

$7.25/hour

Effective 2009-07-24 · source

Who this rate applies to

State minimum wage currently $7.25/hr; tipped employees must be paid at least $2.13/hr cash wage and tips must make up the difference to $7.25.

The headline rate may not apply to every worker. North Carolina has additional worker-class rates recorded only as prose above. Check the source before relying on the headline figure for a specific job or employer type.

Source.

Available tools

North Carolina calculators and guides

Note: North Carolina has worker- and employer-class exceptions, so these tools cannot assume the headline rate applies to every worker. Verify your own situation against the cited sources.

Start hereMinimum Wage$7.25/hr; NC DOL official page states "The minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25 an hour" (labor.nc.gov); tipped: $2.13/hr cash wage; tracks federal floor with no state-set increase mechanism.

OvertimeNC Wage and Hour Act (NCGS Chapter 95, Article 2A): weekly-40 at 1.5×; mirrors FLSA for large employers (>$500K gross); NC DOL enforces state act for small employers; confirmed from labor.nc.gov overtime page.

How North Carolina differs

Weekly overtime: North Carolina requires time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek. Source.

Rate schedule: North Carolina's minimum wage rolls over on Tracks federal floor; no state scheduled rollover.

State wage law

North Carolina wage payment and collection law

Beyond the minimum wage and overtime rate, North Carolina has its own wage-payment statute governing when workers must be paid, what happens to a final paycheck, and how to recover wages an employer has not paid. The essentials, drawn from North Carolina Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Bureau, are below.

How often wages must be paid: N.C. Gen. Stat. §95-25.6: all wages/tips on the regular payday; periods may be daily to monthly; bonus/commission as infrequently as annually if prescribed in advance.
Final paycheck after separation: §95-25.7: wages due on or before the next regular payday after separation.
How to file a wage claim: File a wage complaint with the NC DOL Wage and Hour Bureau online (labor.nc.gov) or 1-800-NC-LABOR. Not accepted if wages due more than one year ago or under $50; min-wage/OT/tipped referred to US DOL.
Deadline to claim (statute of limitations): §95-25.22(f): 2 years (per G.S. 1-53).
Other state-specific rules: State minimum wage $6.15 or FLSA, whichever higher (§95-25.3, so $7.25). State overtime 1.5x over 40/wk (§95-25.4). Unpaid wages plus equal liquidated damages and attorney fees (§95-25.22). Local wage ordinances preempted.

Primary source: North Carolina Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Bureau. Statute citations are the state's own; verify your specific situation before acting.