Employment

Topics covered here include right to work, discrimination, retaliation, unemployment benefits and more.

About

We help our clients gain and retain safe employment, and secure the wages and benefits they are entitled to

  • Unemployment: We help our clients receive the unemployment compensation they deserve.
  • Wage Theft: We help our clients collect the wages that are owed to them.
  • Other: We help clients fight the denial or loss of occupational licenses.

Applications for unemployment benefits are submitted online through the website for the North Carolina Division of Employment Security (DES).  The statement in the following video that applications for unemployment benefits can be made at a local DES office is no longer correct.  Unemployment benefits claims can last from 12 to 20 weeks, depending on the current level of unemployment in the State of North Carolina.  The statement in the video that an unemployment benefits claim is for 13 weeks is not correct.

Legal Aid NC Helpline

Toll-Free: 1 (866) 219-LANC (5262)

8:30 AM – 1:30 PM, Monday – Friday
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM, Monday & Thursday

Apply for free help with civil (non-criminal) legal issues. Those 60 and older should call the Senior Helpline.

​​​We provide free legal help to low-income North Carolinians in civil cases involving basic human needs like safety, shelter, income and more.

Category Name Organization
Small Claims A Guide to Small Claims Court Legal Aid of North Carolina
Discrimination ​Americans With Disabilities Act U.S. Department of Labor
Starting Your Own Business ​Bogus Business Opportunities Federal Trade Commission
General Employee Rights in North Carolina Legal Aid of North Carolina
General Employment Law Guide U.S. Department of Labor
Discrimination Equal-employment Opportunity U.S. Department of Labor
Leave Benefits, Holidays, Sick Days ​Family and Medical Leave Act U.S. Department of Labor
Discrimination ​Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Unemployment Fired from your job? Legal Aid of North Carolina
Worker Safety ​If You Have Been Injured at Work ​North Carolina Industrial Commission
Workers’ Compensation ​Job Scams Federal Trade Commission
General Labor and Employment Resources Directory North Carolina Bar Association
Leave Benefits, Holidays, Sick Days Maternity Leave Legal Aid of North Carolina
Wages Minimum-wage Facts U.S. Department of Labor
Worker Safety ​OSHA Fact Sheets Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Discrimination Sex and Gender Discrimination Workplace Fairness
Discrimination ​The Whistleblower Protection Program U.S. Department of Labor
Unemployment Unemployment Benefits Overpayments Legal Aid of North Carolina
Unemployment Unemployment: Hearing by Telephone With Appeals Referee – Discharged Legal Aid of North Carolina
Unemployment Unemployment: Hearing by Telephone With Hearing Referee – Quit Legal Aid of North Carolina
Unemployment Unemployment: How To Prepare for an Unemployment Benefits Hearing Legal Aid of North Carolina
Wages Wages and Hours Worked: Child-labor Protections (Nonagricultural Work) U.S. Department of Labor
Wages ​Wages and Hours worked: Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay U.S. Department of Labor
Leave Benefits, Holidays, Sick Days ​Wages and Vacation Earned Legal Aid of North Carolina
Join us to learn how to apply for SNAP, get all the benefits you deserve, and know your rights with DSS.
Join us to learn how to apply for SNAP, get all the benefits you deserve, and know your rights with DSS.
Join us to learn how to apply for SNAP, get all the benefits you deserve, and know your rights with DSS.