(a)        The Commissioner or his designated representative shall have the power and authority to enter any place of employment and gather such facts as are essential to determine whether or not the employer is covered by any provision of this Article.

With respect to any provision of this Article under which the employer is covered, the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designated representative may inspect such places and such records, make transcriptions of any and all such records, question employees and investigate such facts, conditions, practices, or matters as are necessary to determine whether the employer has violated said provision of this Article.

With respect to the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-25.6 through 95-25.12 (Wage Payment) as those provisions apply to persons covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Commissioner or his designated representative shall have no authority under this subsection unless the Commissioner or his designated representative has received a complaint from an employee of the covered establishment.

(b)        Except as otherwise provided in this Article, every employer subject to any provision of this Article shall make, keep, and preserve such records of the persons employed by the employer, including the ages of employees, and of the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment which are essential to the enforcement of this Article and are prescribed by regulation of the Commissioner, except that the Commissioner shall have no authority to prescribe records for the State of North Carolina, a city, town, county or other municipality or agency or instrumentality of government.

(c)        A poster summarizing the major provisions of this Article shall be displayed in every establishment subject to this Article. This poster shall also include notice indicating the following in plain language:

(1)        Any worker who is defined as an employee by either N.C. Gen. Stat. § 95-25.2(4), 143-786(a)(3), 96-1(b)(10), 97-2(2), or 105-163.1(4) shall be treated as an employee unless the individual is an independent contractor.

(2)        Any employee who believes that the employee has been misclassified as an independent contractor by the employee’s employer may report the suspected misclassification to the Employee Classification Section within the Industrial Commission.

(3)        The physical location, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address where alleged incidents of employee misclassification occurred may be reported to the Employee Classification Section within the Industrial Commission. ?(1937, c. 317, ss. 5, 19; 1959, c. 475; 1971, c. 1231, s. 2; 1973, c. 649, s. 4; 1975, c. 413, ss. 7, 9; 1979, c. 839, s. 1; 2005-453, s. 22; 2009-351, s. 2; 2017-203, s. 3.)