Greensboro cannot set its own minimum wage because North Carolina General Statute 95-25.1 preempts local wage ordinances. The state minimum tracks the federal floor of 7.25 dollars per hour, and only the legislature in Raleigh can raise it.
NCGS 95-25.1 expressly prohibits North Carolina cities and counties from establishing minimum wages for private-sector employers higher than the state minimum. The state minimum is set at the federal level of 7.25 dollars per hour and has not been raised since 2009. Greensboro pays its own employees above that as a matter of city policy, but cannot impose the same on private businesses. Tipped workers receive 2.13 dollars base with tip credit. Past efforts in cities like Charlotte and Asheville to enact local wage floors were blocked by the preemption statute.
Local wage ordinances would be unenforceable under NCGS 95-25.1, and federal and state Department of Labor agencies enforce the 7.25-dollar floor with back-pay and liquidated-damages remedies.
See how Greensboro's minimum wage preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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