A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT Repealing the priority consideration in hiring given under the state personnel act to covered employees subject to reductions in force. 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 126‑7.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 126‑7.1.  Posting requirement; reduction in force; Work First hiring.
(a)	All vacancies for which any State agency, department, or institution openly recruit shall be posted in a place readily accessible to employees that is located within at least the following:
(1)	The personnel office of the agency, department, or institution having the vacancy; and
(2)	The particular work unit of the agency, department, or institution having the vacancy.
 If the decision is made, initially or at any time while the vacancy remains open, to receive applicants from outside the recruiting agency, department, or institution, the vacancy shall be listed with the Office of State Personnel for the purpose of informing current State employees of such vacancy. The State agency, department, or institution may not receive approval from the Office of State Personnel to fill a job vacancy if the agency, department, or institution cannot prove to the satisfaction of the Office of State Personnel that it complied with these posting requirements. The agency, department, or institution which hires any person in violation of these posting requirements shall pay such person when employment is discontinued as a result of such violation for the work performed during the period of time between his initial employment and separation.
(a1)	State employees to be affected by a reduction in force shall be notified of the reduction in force as soon as practicable, and in any event, no less than 30 days prior to the effective date of the reduction in force.
			(b)	Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to vacancies which must be filled immediately to prevent work stoppage or the protection of the public health, safety, or security.
											(e)	Each State agency, department, and institution is encouraged to hire into State government employment qualified applicants who are current or former Work First Program participants.
(f)	Each State agency, department, institution, university, community college, and local education agency shall verify, in accordance with the Basic Pilot Program administered by the United States Department of Homeland Security pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1101, et seq, each individual's legal status or authorization to work in the United States after hiring the individual as an employee to work in the United States."
SECTION 2.  Nothing in this act affects the extended period of priority reconsideration afforded to State employees by Section 26.14D of S.L. 2009‑451, as amended by Section 9.3 of S.L. 2009‑575.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2011, and applies to employees subject to reductions in force on or after that date.