The labor commissioner race is having its moment in the sun.
With Democratic candidates Mary Fant Donnan and John C. Brooks in a runoff next Tuesday for the right to face incumbent Republican Cherie Berry in November, the normally low-profile office is getting a little more attention than usual.
But what does the commissioner do?
As head of the N.C. Department of Labor, the commissioner is responsible for overseeing the health, safety and well-being of more than 4 million workers in the state, including enforcing federal regulations laid down by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The major divisions including Occupational Safety and Health, which enforces federal worker safety laws; Research and Policy, which compiles labor statistics; and Standards and Inspections, which inspects elevators, amusement park rides, and rock quarries, among other things.
The department also protects workers from discrimination based on genetic testing, service in the National Guard, or filing a workplace complaint, though complaints related to race, gender, etc., are handled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The department was started in 1891, when the legislature created the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's been a full-blown agency since 1931.
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