Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All North Carolina benefits
employmentstate

Called Up by the Governor — Unpaid Leave, and Nobody Can Make You Burn Your Holiday

A North Carolina National Guard member called into service of the State by the Governor has the right to take leave without pay from civilian employment, and no Guard member can be forced to use vacation leave for a period of active service. Which leave you use is your choice, not your employer’s.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A North Carolina National Guard member called into service of the State by the Governor has the right to take leave without pay from civilian employment, and no Guard member can be forced to use vacation leave for a period of active service. Which leave you use is your choice, not your employer’s.

What it's worth: Leave without pay as of right, and vacation leave protected from forced use

  • The Guard’s own bulletin states the 2019 Act clarified that members called into service of the State by the Governor have the right to take leave without pay from civilian employment.
  • It also states that no Guard member shall be forced to use any of their vacation leave for a period of active service, and that the choice of leave is solely within the discretion of the servicemember.
  • No dollar value is claimed. The value here is that accrued holiday survives a state call-up instead of being consumed by it.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are a member of the North Carolina National Guard.
  • The right belongs to the serving member.
  • Your home is in North Carolina.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: On notice of the call-up
  1. 1Tell your employer in writing and attach the order. An order from the Governor under Chapter 127A is a military order for the purposes of the state Act.
  2. 2Say which leave you are taking. The choice is described as solely within the discretion of the servicemember, so make it explicitly rather than letting a payroll office default you into vacation.
  3. 3Push back on any instruction to use holiday. The bulletin states no Guard member shall be forced to use any of their vacation leave for a period of active service.
  4. 4Do not confuse this with the paid state employee entitlement. If you work for the state, the separate military leave policy gives 120 paid hours a federal fiscal year and then 30 calendar days of pay — this section is about civilian employment generally and is unpaid.
  5. 5Call the North Carolina National Guard Legal Assistance Program on (984) 664-6220 if an employer refuses. The Guard names it as the office that advises on these rights.
Form
Written notice to your civilian employer with a copy of the Governor’s order
File with
Your civilian employer
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is unpaid leave, not paid leave. Its worth is that your accrued holiday is protected from being spent on a state call-up — an employer cannot substitute vacation for it.
Worth knowingIt turns on being called into service of the State by the Governor. A federal Title 10 or Title 32 call-up is a different frame, governed by the federal reemployment rights statute.
Known gapN.C.G.S. §127A-111 was not read. Whether the section carries a notice requirement, a reinstatement provision or a remedy for an employer who refuses is not established here.

Sources

Why only one source type: ncleg.gov refused retrieval this session, so N.C.G.S. §127A-111 itself could not be read; the record rests on the North Carolina National Guard Staff Judge Advocate’s own published statement of what the 2019 Act did to that section.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.