NORTH CAROLINA

CONSOLIDATED STATUTES-1919

Wages as preferred claims-In administration, etc.

SECTION 93. Administration.-[Wages for not more than one year rank next after debts secured by a specific lien, funeral expenses, taxes assessed previous to the death of the employee, dues to the State and the United States, and judgments docketed and in force. Medical services for the year past are in the same class as wages.]

SEC. 1140. Foreclosure of mortgages.-[Mortgages on the property of corporations can not defeat judgments for labor or clerical services performed.] SEC. 1197. Insolvency.-[The assets of an insolvent corporation are subject to a first and prior lien, superior to all others, for two months' wages of laborers, workmen, and all persons doing labor or service in the regular employment of the corporation.]

Railroad construction-Wages due by contractors

SECTION 2444. Action against company.-[Laborers employed by contractors for the construction of any part of a railroad may give notice to the company of indebtedness for not over 30 days' labor, whereupon the company becomes liable for the payment of such wages. Notice must be given within 20 days after the performance of the work for which payment is sought, and may be served on the agent in charge of the section of the road on which the labor was performed. Action must be commenced within 90 days of such notice.]

NOTE. This provision applies to logging railroads. Carter v. Lumber Co., 160 N. C. 8.

Liability of railroad companies for injuries to employees

SECTION 3465. Acts of fellow-servants, etc.-Any servant or employee of any railroad company operating in this State who shall suffer injury to his person, or the personal representative of any such servant or employee who shall have suffered death in the course of his services or employment with such company, by the negligence, carelessness or incompetence of any other servant, employee or agent of the company, or by any defect in the machinery, ways or appliances of the company, shall be entitled to maintain an action against such company. Any contract or agreement, expressed or implied, made by any employee of such company to waive the benefit of this section shall be null and void.

This law, where it applies, has the effect of making all coemployees of railroad companies agents and principals of the company so far as fixing its liability for their neglect is concerned. 54 S. E. 391.

Within the limits set by this statute the defense of assumption of risks is abrogated. 52 S. E. 129.

It applies to logging roads. 54 S. E. 795. And. to street railways. 68 S. E. 215. SEC. 3466. Negligence of officers, etc.-Every common carrier by railroad shall be liable in damages to any person suffering injury while he is employed by such carrier, or in the case of the death of such employee, to his or her personal representative, for such injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents or employees of such carrier, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence. in its cars, engine, appliances, machinery, track, road bed, works, boats, wharves, or other equipment.

SEC. 3467. Contributory negligence to be measured.-In all actions hereafter brought against any common carrier by railroad to recover damages for personal injury to an employee, or where such injuries have resulted in his death, the fact that the employee may have been guilty of contributory negligence shall not bar a recovery, but the damages shall be diminished by the jury in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to such employee: Pro

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vided, however, That no such employee who may be injured or killed shall be held to have been guilty of contributory negligence in any case where the violation by such common carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury or death of such employee.

SEC. 3468. Assumption of risk.-In any action brought against any common carrier under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this article to recover damages for injuries to, or the death of, any of its employees, such employee shall not be held to have assumed the risk of his employment in any case where the violation by such common carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury or death of such employee, or the death or injury was caused by negligence.

SEC. 3469. Contracts exempting from liability.-Any contract, rule, regulation or device whatsoever, the purpose and intent of which shall be to enable any common carrier by railroad to exempt itself from any liability created by this article, shall to that extent be void: Provided, That in any action brought against such common carrier, under and by virtue of any of the provisions of this article, such common carrier may set off therein any sum it has contrib uted or paid to any insurance or relief benefit, or indemnity that may have been paid to the injured employee, or the person entitled thereto, on account of the injury or death for which such action was brought.

SEC. 3470. Logging roads.-The provisions in this article relating to liability for damages shall also apply to logging roads and tramroads.

Protection of employees on street railways

SECTION 3541. Vestibules.—[Passenger cars must have vestibule fronts, of not less than four feet frontage, from November 15 to March 30. Sides need not be inclosed. Temporary emergency use of cars without vestibules is allowed dur ing suitable weather.]

Protection of employees as voters

SECTION 4185. Discharge, etc.-Any person who shall in connection with any primary, special, general or other election in this State do any of the acts and things declared in this section to be unlawful shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in the discretion of the court. It shall be unlawful

6. For any person to directly or indirectly discharge, or threaten to discharge, from employment, or otherwise intimidate or oppress, any legally qualified voter on account of any vote such voter may cast, or consider casting, or intend to cast or not to cast, or which he may have failed to cast.

Employment of children—Enticing out of State

SECTION 4222. Act forbidden.-[It is forbidden to employ any minor and carry or induce him to go beyond the limits of the State without the consent of parents or guardian in writing, duly authenticated.]

Contract of employment with intent to defraud

SECTION 4281. Fraudulent contract.--If any person, with intent to cheat or defraud another, shall obtain any advances in money, provisions, goods, wares, or merchandise of any description from any other person or corporation upon and by color of any promise or agreement that the person making the same will begin any work or labor of any description for such person or corporation from whom the advances are obtained, and the person making the promise or agreement shall willfully fail, without a lawful excuse, to commence or complete such work according to contract, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. Evidence of such promise or agreement to work, the obtaining of such advances thereon and the failure to comply with such promise or agreement shall be presumptive evidence of the intent to cheat and defraud at the time of obtaining the advances and making the promise or agreement, subject to be rebutted by other testimony which may be introduced by the defendant.

This statute, prior to the amendment which added the last sentence, was declared constitutional. State v. Norman, 110 N. C. 484, 14 S. E. 968. But this amendment was declared invalid as exposing the defendant to conviction for fraud on a simple showing of breach of contract. State v. Griffin, 154 N. C. 611, 70 S. E. 292.

Employment of children-Fraudulent contracts-Supporting parents in idleness SECTION 4446. Fraud.—[Contractors for piecework who employ minors to assist them, contracting with intent to defraud, and failing to pay for the services rendered, are guilty of a misdemeanor.]

SEC. 4459. Vagrancy.-[An able-bodied man living on the wages or earnings of a mother, wife, or minor child other than a male child over 18, is declared a vagrant.]

Interference with employment-Enticing employees

SECTION 4469. Procuring violation of contract, etc.-If any person shall entice, persuade and procure any servant by indenture, or any servant who shall have contracted in writing or orally to serve his employer, to unlawfully leave the service of his master or employer; or if any person shall knowingly and unlawfully harbor and detain, in his own service and from the service of his master or employer, any servant who shall unlawfully leave the service of such master or employer, then, in either case, such person and servant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisoned not exceeding six months.

The mere fact of employing one whose contract with another has not expired is not an offense under this section, but it must appear that there was an actual enticement or persuasion. State v. Holly, 152 N. C. 839, 67 S. E. 53.

Bribery, etc., of employees

SECTION 4475. Offering bribes.--Any person who gives, offers or promises to an agent, employee or servant any gift or gratuity whatever with intent to influence his action in relation to his principal's, employer's or master's business; any agent, employee or servant who requests or accepts a gift or gratuity or a promise to make a gift or to do an act beneficial to himself, under an agreement or with an understanding that he shall act in any particular manner in relation to his principal's, employer's or master's business; any agent, employee or servant who, being authorized to procure materials, supplies or other articles either by purchase or contract for his principal, employer or master, or to employ service or labor for his principal, employer or master, receives, directly or indirectly, for himself or for another, a commission, discount or bonus from the person who makes such sale or contract, or furnishes such materials, supplies or other articles, or from a person who renders such service or labor; and any person who gives or offers such an agent, employee or servant such commission, discount or bonus, shall be punished in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 4476. Giving evidence.-No person shall be excused from attending, testifying, or producing books, papers, contracts, agreements, and other documents before any court, or in obedience to the subpoena of any court, having jurisdiction of the crime denounced in the preceding section, on the ground or for the reason that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him may tend to incriminate him or to subject him to a penalty or to a forfeiture; but no person shall be liable to any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he may testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, before such court or in obedience to its subpoena or in any such case or proceeding: Provided, That no person so testifying or producing any such books, papers, contracts, agreements, or other documents shall be exempted from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.

Blacklisting

SECTION 4477. Blacklisting forbidden.-If any person, agent, company, or corporation, after having discharged any employee from his or its service, shall prevent or attempt to prevent, by word or writing of any kind, such discharged employee from obtaining employment with any other person, company, or corporation, such person, agent, or corporation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars; and such person, agent, company, or corporation shall be liable in penal damages to such discharged person, to be recovered by civil action. This section shall not be construed as prohibiting any person or agent of any company or corpora

tion from informing, in writing, upon request, any other person, company, or corporation to whom such discharged person or employee has applied for employment, a truthful statement of the reason for such discharge.

SEC. 4478. Agreement to blacklist.-It shall be unlawful for two or more persons to agree together to blacklist any discharged employee or to attempt. by words or writing or any other means whatever, to prevent such discharged employee, or any employee who may have voluntarily left the service of his employer, from obtaining employment with any other person or company. Persons violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, at the discretion of the court.

A statement as to the standing of a discharged employee is not privileged unless made on request; and whether privileged or not, if it is nrade maliciously, and the employer has thereby prevented or attempted to prevent the reemployment of the discharged employee, penal damages may be awarded. 75 S. E. 34.

Payment of wages in scrip

SECTION 4479. Scrip to be transferable.-If any person who employs laborers by the day, week, or month shall issue in payment for the services of such laborers any ticket, certificate, or other script [scrip] bearing upon its face the word "nontransferable," or shall issue such ticket, certificates, or other script [scrip] in any form that would render it void by transfer from the person to whom issued, or shall refuse to pay to the person holding the same its face value, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each offense, or imprisoned not more than thirty days.

This statute does not authorize the assignee of scrip payable in merchandise to demand and receive payment in money. 112 N. C. 164.

Employment of children-General provisions

SECTION 5031. Child welfare commission.-The State superintendent of public instruction, the secretary of the State board of health, and the commissioner of public welfare of the State of North Carolina are hereby constituted the State child welfare commission, and they shall serve without additional compensation. It shall be the duty of this commission to make and formulate such rules and regulations for enforcing and carrying out the provisions of this article, and of the laws relating to seats for women employees and the laws requiring separate toilets for sexes and races, as in its judgment it shall deem necessary.

SEC. 5032. Age.-[No child under 14 may be employed in any mill, factory, cannery, workshop, laundry, bakery, mercantile establishment, office, hotel, restaurant, barber shop, bootblack stand, stable, garage, place of amusement, brickyard, lumber yard, or in messenger or delivery service, except as the commission may prescribe.]

SEC. 5033. Night work; mines.-[No child under 16 may work at the above occupations between 9 p. m. and 6 a. m. nor in or about any quarry or mine.] SEC. 5034. Certificates.-[Certificates of children under 16 procured in good faith under such conditions as the commission may prescribe, and kept on file, shall be prima facie evidence of the age of the child. False statements are forbidden.]

SEC. 5035. Agents.-[The commission may appoint agents for the enforce ment of this law, and may also use school attendance officers.]

SEC. 5036. Inspection.-[The commission and its agents may enter all places of employment for the purpose of inspection and the enforcement of this law.] SEC. 5038. Penalty.-Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article, or of the laws relating to seats for women employees or of the laws requiring separate toilets for sexes and races, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, within the discretion of the court.

Factory, etc., regulations-Fire escapes, etc.

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SECTION 6083 (as amended 1923, ch. 149). Doors to open outward.-In all factories with more than ten employees the doors for ingress and egress shall be so hung as to open outwardly from the * workshops of such buildings or places, or the doors may be hung on double hinges, so as to open with equal ease outwardly or inwardly.

SEC. 6084 (as amended 1923, ch. 149). Fire escapes.—[All factories, manufacturing establishments, or workshops of three or more stories in height, in which ten or more people are employed above the first floor thereof, shall be provided with one or (if the proper official shall deem necessary) more outside fireescapes, properly and safely constructed and guarded, and accessible from doors or windows, which must be kept unobstructed. Every story of factories, etc., three or more stories in height must be supplied with means for extinguishing fires. All main doors, both inside and outside, except fire doors, must open outward when officials so direct, and no door may be locked or otherwise fastened during work hours.]

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SEC. 6085 (as amended 1923, ch. 149). Means of egress. Every building in which twenty or more persons are employed * above the second story in a factory, workshop, or mercantile or other establishment, when the owner or agent of the owner of the building is notified in writing by the insurance commissioner or one of his deputies, shall be provided with proper ways of egress or other means of escape from fire sufficient for the use of all persons in such building or buildings, and such ways of egress and means of escape shall be kept free from obstruction, in good repair, and ready for use. Every room above the second story in any such building in which twenty or more persons are employed shall be provided with more than one way of egress by stairways on the inside or outside of the building. All doors in any building subject to the provisions of this article shall open outwardly, if the insurance commissioner or one of his deputies shall so direct in writing.

Employment of labor—Miscellaneous provisions

SECTION 6554. Work time.-Sixty hours shall constitute a week's work in all factories and manufacturing establishments of the State, and no minor nor woman shall be worked in such factory or establishment a longer period than sixty hours in one week and no adult male shall be worked in such factory or establishment for a longer period than sixty hours in one week unless there shall be a written contract entered into between said adult male and his employer to that effect in which the employer shall agree to pay said adult male extra compensation for extra hours he may work. No employee in any factory or manufacturing establishment in this State shall be worked exceeding eleven hours in any one day: Provided, This section shall not apply to engineers, firemen, superintendents, overseers, section and yard hands, office men, watchmen or repairers of breakdowns.

Seats for female employees

SECTION 6555. Seats to be provided.—All persons, firms, or corporations who employ females in a store, shop, office, or manufacturing establishment, as clerks, operatives, or helpers in any business, trade, or occupation carried on or operated in the State of North Carolina, shall be required to procure and provide proper and suitable seats for all such females, and shall permit the use of such seats, rests, or stools as may be necessary, and shall not make any rules, regulations, or orders preventing the use of such seats, stools, or rests when any such female employee or employees are not actively employed or engaged in their work in such business or employment. [Violations are punishable by fines, $25 to $100.]

Accidents in factories-Provisions for first aid

SECTION 6556. Medical, etc., supplies required.-Every person, firm, or corporation operating a factory or shop employing over twenty-five laborers, in which machinery is used for any manufacturing purpose, or for any purpose except for elevation or for heating or hoisting apparatus, shall at all times keep and maintain free of expense to the employees a medical or surgical chest which shall contain two porcelain pans, two tourniquets, gauze, absorbent cotton, adhesive plasters, bandages, antiseptic soap, one bottle of carbolic acid with directions on bottle, one bottle antiseptic tablets, one pair of scissors, one folding stretcher, all of which shall not cost to exceed ten dollars, for the treatment of persons injured or taken ill upon the premises. Any person, firm, or corporation violating this section shall be subject to a fine of not less than five dollars or more than twenty-five dollars for every week during which such violation continues.