NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-4 (2026)

Authority, powers and duties of Commissioner

✓ current as of July 2026

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The Commissioner of Labor shall be the executive and administrative head of the Department of Labor. In addition to the other powers and duties conferred upon the Commissioner of Labor by this Article, the said Commissioner shall have authority and be charged with the duty:

(1) To appoint and assign to duty such clerks, stenographers, and other employees in the various divisions of the Department, as may be necessary to perform the work of the Department, and fix their compensation, subject to the approval of the Department of Administration. The Commissioner of Labor may assign or transfer stenographers, or clerks, from one division to another, or inspectors from one division to another, or combine the clerical force of two or more divisions, or require from one division assistance in the work of another division, as he may consider necessary and advisable: Provided, however, the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to the Industrial Commission, or the Division of Workers' Compensation.

(2) To make such rules and regulations with reference to the work of the Department and of the several divisions thereof as shall be necessary to properly carry out the duties imposed upon the said Commissioner and the work of the Department.

(3) To take and preserve testimony, examine witnesses, administer oaths, and under proper restriction enter any public institution of the State, any factory, store, workshop, laundry, public eating house or mine, and interrogate any person employed therein or connected therewith, or the proper officer of a corporation, or file a written or printed list of interrogatories and require full and complete answers to the same, to be returned under oath within 30 days of the receipt of said list of questions.

(4) To secure the enforcement of all laws relating to the inspection of factories, mercantile establishments, mills, workshops, public eating places, and commercial institutions in the State. To aid him in the work, he shall have power to appoint factory inspectors and other assistants. The duties of such inspectors and other assistants shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of Labor.

(5) To visit and inspect, personally or through his assistants and factory inspectors, at reasonable hours, as often as practicable, the factories, mercantile establishments, mills, workshops, public eating places, and commercial institutions in the State, where goods, wares, or merchandise are manufactured, purchased, or sold, at wholesale or retail.

(6) To enforce the provisions of this section and to prosecute all violations of laws relating to the inspection of factories, mercantile establishments, mills, workshops, public eating houses, and commercial institutions in this State before any court of competent jurisdiction. It shall be the duty of the district attorney of the proper district upon the request of the Commissioner of Labor, or any of his assistants or deputies, to prosecute any violation of a law, which it is made the duty of the said Commissioner of Labor to enforce.

(7) Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-6-9 and G.S. 114-2.3, to retain, designate, employ, expend available funds for, and otherwise engage private counsel to provide litigation services and represent the Department in any matter the Commissioner deems necessary to represent the interests of the Department and any of its component units, bureaus, officers, or employees. For the purposes of this subdivision, the terms "private counsel" and "litigation services" are as defined in G.S. 147-17. (1925, c. 288; 1931, c. 277; c. 312, ss. 5, 6; 1933, cc. 46, 244; 1945, c. 723, s. 2; 1957, c. 269, s. 1; 1973, c. 47, s. 2; c. 108, s. 41; 1991, c. 636, s. 3; 2015-221, s. 1.2; 2025-92, s. 4.1(g).)

§ 95-5: Repealed by Session Laws 2015-221, s. 2.1, effective August 18, 2015.

§ 95-6: Repealed by Session Laws 2015-221, s. 2.2, effective August 18, 2015.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1997–2021 · leading case: Stone v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 495 S.E.2d 711 (N.C. 1998).

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Stone v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 495 S.E.2d 711 (N.C. 1998). · cites it 48× “Defendants moved, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rules 12(b)(1), (2), and (6), to dismiss plaintiffs' claims.”

Hunt v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 499 S.E.2d 747 (N.C. 1998). · cites it 24× “Plaintiffs brought suit under the Tort Claims Act arguing that defendants owed each employee a duty under N.C.G.S. § 95-4 to inspect the plant. Id.”

Multiple v. North Carolina Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 626 S.E.2d 666 (N.C. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 30× “The Court concluded: "Although N.C.G.S. § 95-4 imposes a duty upon defendants, that duty is for the benefit of the public, not individual claimants as here.”

Multiple v. North Carolina Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 646 S.E.2d 356 (N.C. 2007). · cites it 3× “2d at 716 (quoting N.C.G.S. § 95-4(5) (1996)). Because the plaintiffs did not allege facts establishing the existence of a special relationship or a special duty, those claims failed.”

Lane v. City of Kinston, 544 S.E.2d 810 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “Nowhere in chanter 95 of our General Statutes does the legislature authorize a private.”

Comm'r of Labor of North Car. v. Dillard's, 83 F. Supp. 2d 622 (M.D.N.C. 2000). · cites it 2× “North Carolina General Statute § 95-4, which establishes the authority, powers and duties of the Commissioner of Labor, states: *627 The Commissioner of Labor shall be the exclusive and administrative head of the Department of Labor.”

Stone v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 480 S.E.2d 410 (N.C. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 4× “N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-4 (1993) (emphasis added).”

Farm Labor Org. Comm. v. Roy Cooper (M.D.N.C. 2021). · cites it 3× “) Further, particularly given that the North Carolina Commissioner of Labor, with the assistance of district attorneys, can also prosecute violations of Section 95- 79(b), see N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-4 (6), issuance of a declaratory judgment regarding the unconstitutionality of the…”

— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-4(5) — 4 cases

Stone v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 495 S.E.2d 711 (N.C. 1998). “Defendants moved, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rules 12(b)(1), (2), and (6), to dismiss plaintiffs' claims.”

Multiple v. North Carolina Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 626 S.E.2d 666 (N.C. Ct. App. 2006). “The Court concluded: "Although N.C.G.S. § 95-4 imposes a duty upon defendants, that duty is for the benefit of the public, not individual claimants as here.”

Hunt v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 499 S.E.2d 747 (N.C. 1998). “Plaintiffs brought suit under the Tort Claims Act arguing that defendants owed each employee a duty under N.C.G.S. § 95-4 to inspect the plant. Id.”

Multiple v. North Carolina Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 646 S.E.2d 356 (N.C. 2007). “2d at 716 (quoting N.C.G.S. § 95-4(5) (1996)). Because the plaintiffs did not allege facts establishing the existence of a special relationship or a special duty, those claims failed.”

— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-4(6) — 1 case

Stone v. North Carolina Dep't of Labor, 495 S.E.2d 711 (N.C. 1998). “Defendants moved, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rules 12(b)(1), (2), and (6), to dismiss plaintiffs' claims.”

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