§ 95-47.2. Licensing procedures. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 95‑47.2.  Licensingprocedures.

(a)        No person shallopen, keep, maintain, own, operate or carry on a private personnel serviceunless the person has first procured a license therefor as provided in thisArticle.

(b)        An application forlicense shall be made to the Commissioner. If the private personnel service isowned by an individual, the application shall be made by that individual; ifthe service is owned by a partnership, the application shall be made by allpartners; if the service is owned by a corporation, the application shall bemade by all stockholders who own at least twenty percent (20%) of the issuedand outstanding voting stock of the corporation, or if the service is owned byan association, society, or corporation in which no one individual owns atleast twenty percent (20%) of the issued and outstanding voting stock, theapplication shall be made by the president, vice‑president, secretary andtreasurer of the owner, by whatever title designated. The application shallstate the name and address of the individual who is responsible for thedirection and operation of the placement activities of the private personnelservice whether that individual be one of the applicants or another person;whether or not that individual has ever been employed in a private personnelservice; the name and address of each of the license applicant's prioremployers during the five years immediately preceding the license application;and such other information relating to the good moral character of thatindividual as the Commissioner may require. No change in such persons shalltake place without prior notification to the Commissioner.

(c)        Each applicationfor license shall be in writing and in the form prescribed by the Commissioner,and shall state truthfully the name under which the business is to beconducted; the street and number of the building or place where the business isto be conducted.

(d)        Upon the receipt ofan application for a license the Commissioner:

(1)        Shall publish anotice of the pending application in a newspaper of general circulation in thearea of the proposed location of the employment agency and may publish thenotice in a newspaper of general circulation in each area in which theapplicant (or if a corporation, the president and majority shareholder) hasresided during the five years preceding the time of the application. Theapplicant shall incur the cost associated with the publication of this legaladvertisement. The notice shall include a statement informing individuals oftheir right to protest the issuance of a license by filing within 10 dayswritten comments with the Commissioner. The protest shall be in writing andsigned by the person filing the protest or by his authorized agent or attorney,and shall state reasons why the license should not be granted. Upon the filingof a protest, the Commissioner, if he determines the protest to be of such anature that a hearing should be conducted and that the protest is for a causeon which denial of a license may properly be based, shall appoint a time andplace for a hearing on the application and shall give at least seven days'notice of that time and place to the license applicant and to the person filingthe protest. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisionsof the rules of the Administrative Procedure Act.

(2)        Shall investigatethe character, criminal record and business integrity of each applicant foragency license and shall investigate the criminal records of all persons listedas agency owners, officers, directors or managers. The applicant and all agencyowners, officers, directors and managers shall assist the department inobtaining necessary information by authorizing the release of all relevantinformation. The applicant shall incur the cost associated with this backgroundinvestigation.

(2a)      The Department ofJustice may provide a criminal record check to the Commissioner for a person oragency who has applied for a license through the Commissioner. The Commissionershall provide to the Department of Justice, along with the request, thefingerprints of all applicants, any additional information required by theDepartment of Justice, and a form signed by the applicants consenting to thecheck of the criminal record and to the use of the fingerprints and otheridentifying information required by the State or national repositories. Theapplicants' fingerprints shall be forwarded to the State Bureau ofInvestigation for a search of the State's criminal history record file, and theState Bureau of Investigation shall forward a set of the fingerprints to theFederal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history check. TheCommissioner shall keep all information pursuant to this subdivisionprivileged, in accordance with applicable State law and federal guidelines, andthe information shall be confidential and shall not be a public record underChapter 132 of the General Statutes.

TheDepartment of Justice may charge each applicant a fee for conducting the checksof criminal history records authorized by this subdivision.

(3)        Upon completion ofthe investigation, or 60 days after the application was received, whichever islater, but in no case more than 75 days after the application was received,shall determine whether or not a license should be issued. The license shall bedenied for any of the following reasons:

a.         If the applicant foragency license, or the president or majority shareholder of a corporateapplicant, omits or falsifies any material information asked for in theapplication and required by the Commissioner.

b.         If any owner,officer, director or manager of the employment agency:

1.         Has been convictedin any state of the criminal offense of embezzlement, obtaining money underfalse pretenses, forgery, conspiracy to defraud or any similar offenseinvolving fraud or moral turpitude;

2.         Was an owner,officer, director or manager of an employment agency or other business whoselicense was revoked or that was otherwise caused to cease operation by actionof any State or federal agency or court because of violations of law orregulation relating to deceptive or unfair practices in the conduct ofbusiness;

3.         As an owner ormanager of an employment agency or other business or as an employment counselorwas found by any State or federal agency or court to have violated any law orregulation relating to deceptive or unfair practices in the conduct ofbusiness; or

4.         In any otherdemonstrable way engaged in deceptive or unfair practices in the conduct ofbusiness.

c.         If the employmentagency will be operated on the same premises as a loan agency (as defined inG.S. 105‑88) or collection agency (as defined in G.S. 58‑70‑15).

(e)        If it appears uponthe hearing or from the inspection, examination or investigation made by theCommissioner that the owners, partners, corporation officers or the agencymanager are not persons of good moral character or that the license applicanthas not complied with the provisions of this Article, the application shall bedenied and a license shall not be granted. The Commissioner shall find facts tosubstantiate his denial of the issuance of a license. Each application shall begranted or refused within 60 days from the date of its filing, or if a hearingis held, within 75 days. Any license heretofore or hereafter issued shall expire12 months from the date of its issuance, and shall be renewed as hereinafterprovided unless sooner revoked by the Commissioner.

(f)         No license shallbe granted to a person to operate as a private personnel service where the nameof the business is similar or identical to that of any existing licensedbusiness (except where a franchiser has licensed two or more persons to use thesame name within the State) or directly or indirectly expresses or connotes anylimitation, specification or discrimination contrary to current State orfederal laws against discrimination in employment.

(g)        Every license shallcontain the name of the person licensed and shall designate the city in whichthe license is issued, the name of the manager and date of the license. The licenseshall be displayed in a conspicuous place in the area where job applicants arereceived by the agency.

(h)        A license grantedas provided in this Article shall not be valid for any person other than theperson to whom it is issued or for any place other than that designated in thelicense and shall not be assigned or transferred without the consent of theCommissioner, whose consent must be based on the standards contained in thisArticle. Applications for consent to assign or transfer shall be made in thesame manner as an application for a license, and all the provisions of thisArticle shall apply to applications for consent. The location of a privatepersonnel service shall not be changed without notice to the Commissioner, andany change of location shall be endorsed upon the license. A person who hasobtained a license in accordance with the provisions of this Article may applyfor additional licenses to conduct additional private personnel services inaccordance with the provisions of this Article. The manner of application, andthe conditions and terms applicable to the issuance of the additional licensesshall be the same as for an original license. The same agency manager may bedesignated in all such licenses.

(i)         Temporary license.– If ownership of a licensed private personnel service is transferred, thedepartment shall issue a temporary license to any new owner or successor if itappears to the department that issuance of such a license would serve thepublic interest. A temporary license shall be effective for a period of 90 daysand shall not be renewed.

(j)         Each licenseeshall, before the license is issued or renewed, deposit with the department abond payable to the State of North Carolina and executed by a surety companyduly authorized to transact business in the State of North Carolina in theamount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and upon condition that the privatepersonnel service will pay to applicants all refunds due under this Article andregulations adopted hereunder if the private personnel service terminates itsbusiness. (1929,c. 178, ss. 2, 3; 1931, c. 312, s. 3; 1979, c. 780, s. 1; 1987, c. 282, s. 12;1989, c. 414, s. 2; 2002‑147, s. 12; 2003‑308, s. 9.)