§ 95-47.9.  Enforcement of Article; rules; hearing; penalty; criminal penalties.

(a) This Article shall be enforced by the Commissioner. The Commissioner or any duly authorized agent, deputies or assistants designated by the Commissioner, may upon receipt of a complaint that a private personnel service has violated a specific section of this Article, inspect those records relevant to the complaint which this Article requires the private personnel service to retain. The Commissioner may also subpoena those records and witnesses and may conduct investigations of any employer or other person where the Commissioner has reasonable grounds for believing that the employer or person has conspired or is conspiring with a private personnel service to violate this Article.

(b) The Commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to carry out and administer the provisions of this Article.

(c) Complaints against any licensed person shall be made in writing to the Commissioner.

(1) If the complaint alleges a violation of this Article, the Commissioner shall cause an investigation to be made. If, as a result of the investigation, the Commissioner has reason to believe that a material violation of this Article has been committed by a private personnel service, the Commissioner may, after compliance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes, deny, suspend, or revoke a license issued under this Article if it is determined that the licensee or any employee of the licensee is guilty of violating the provisions of this Article. In addition, the Commissioner may issue warnings or levy a fine against the private personnel service that shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).

(2) The denial, revocation, or suspension of a license or the issuance of a warning or fine by the Commissioner shall be in writing, shall be signed by the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee, and shall state the grounds upon which the decision is based. The aggrieved person shall have the right to appeal from the decision as provided by Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.

(d) Whenever a license is revoked pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, another license shall not be issued to the same person within three years from the date of the revocation.

(e) Any person who operates as a private personnel service without first obtaining the appropriate license (i) shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor; and (ii) be subject to a civil penalty of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each day the private personnel service operates without a license, the penalty not to exceed a total of two thousand dollars ($2,000). Actions to recover civil penalties shall be initiated by the Attorney General. The clear proceeds of civil penalties provided for in this section shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2. (1929, c. 178, ss. 3-5, 7, 9; 1931, c. 312, s. 3; 1979, c. 780, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 663; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1998-215, s. 109; 2003-308, s. 12.)