On July 9, 2025, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed legislation (Senate Bill (SB) 311, Session Law 2025-71) that expands the state’s Workplace Violence Prevention Act’s (WVPA) definition of “unlawful conduct” to address certain forms of mass picketing. Employers may now seek civil no-contact orders not only on behalf of individual employees, but also on behalf of the business itself, when the conduct in question affects the workplace. The law took effect immediately.

Quick Hits

• North Carolina’s Workplace Violence Prevention Act (WVPA) permits employers to seek civil no-contact orders to protect employees from “unlawful conduct,” including threats or acts of physical violence, and protects employees from retaliation for absences due to domestic violence or harassment.
• Senate Bill 311 amended the WVPA to allow employers to request civil no-contact orders on behalf of the business itself—not just individual employees.
• Peaceful demonstrations and labor activities protected under the National Labor Relations Act remain lawful.
• The law took effect July 9, 2025.

The Law and Order Act: Workplace Violence Prevention/Mass Picketing

Senate Bill 311, known as “The Law and Order Act,” is omnibus legislation that includes a range of judicial reforms, including criminalizing assaults on utility workers, identifying offenses related to embalming fluid, increasing penalties for certain intentional acts, and making significant amendments to the WVPA, codified at N.C. Gen. Stat....

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