Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 97-32, an employee may attempt a trial return to work for a period not to exceed nine months. During a trial return to work period, the employee shall be paid any compensation which may be owed for partial disability pursuant to G.S. 97-30. If the trial return to work is unsuccessful, the employee's right to continuing compensation under G.S. 97-29 shall be unimpaired unless terminated or suspended thereafter pursuant to the provisions of this Article.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-32.1
Trial return to work
Known as the The North Carolina Workers' Compensation Act
The act spans §§ 97–97 (132 sections).
Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case 137 N.C. App. 61 - Lewis v. Sonoco Products Co. (2000)
Most recently applied in 252 N.C. App. 268 - Bell v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (March 2017)
1993 (Reg
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: North Carolina General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain North Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.