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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment

North CarolinastatuteNorth Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (Division of Health Service Regulation); State Bureau of Investigation

What this rule requires your agency to do

  • 1When a criminal history reveals a conviction, the agency must consider the seven statutory factors (including the level and seriousness of the crime, the date of the crime, the age of the person at the time, the circumstances, the nexus to the job duties, the person's post-conviction record, and any subsequent commission of a crime) before deciding whether to deny employment, rather than treating conviction as an automatic bar. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265(b))(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment)
  • 2The agency must keep all criminal history information it receives confidential and may not disclose it except to the applicant. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265(b))(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment)
  • 3The agency must obtain both a State and a national criminal history record check, including fingerprints, for an applicant who has been a resident of North Carolina for less than five years, and at least a State criminal history check for an applicant resident five years or more. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265(a))(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment)
  • 4The home care agency must condition any offer of employment for a position requiring entry into a patient's home on the applicant's consent to a criminal history record check. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265(a))(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment)
  • 5The agency must submit its request for the criminal history record check to the State Bureau of Investigation (or an approved private entity) within five business days of making the conditional offer of employment. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265(a))(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265 - Criminal history record checks required for certain applicants for employment)

Applies to: home care

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-265, home care agencies (and their contract agencies) must condition any offer of employment for a position requiring entry into a patient's home on the applicant's consent to a criminal history record check. The scope of the check depends on the applicant's length of state residency, and the agency must weigh statutory factors before disqualifying an applicant based on a conviction. Criminal history information received is confidential.

Regulatory information, not legal advice — always confirm against the cited official source. Verification reduces error; it does not certify compliance.