Employer fined for negligence

The Department of Labor has ordered a sanction against an employer for neglecting to correct a deficiency in the employment application the company had filed on behalf of a nonresident worker.

Labor hearing officer Jerry Cody said Pacific Entertainment Corporation should pay a $150 fine before the Division of Labor would resume processing its application to hire Jeanabel C. Villarta.

Pacific Entertainment, which operates two nightclubs on Saipan, filed the application on March 7, 2005.

On the same day, the Division of Labor issued and served a deficiency notice because the application was missing a certified job vacancy announcement. The notice instructed the employer to correct the deficiencies within 10 days or be subject to denial of the application.

The division’s Processing Section received no corrective documents from Pacific Entertainment with respect to the JVA deficiency for several months.

On May 17, 2005, the Processing Section telephoned the company to remind the employer about the deficiency. The company’s administrative assistant stated that Pacific Entertainment would comply with the requirement by May 20, 2005.

Having received no documents or further communication from the company, the Processing Section denied the application on May 25, 2005.

The employer appealed the denial.

At the hearing, Pacific Entertainment produced a JVA that had been certified by the Division of Employment and Training Services on July 25, 2005.

Cody said that, while the deficiency had now been corrected, Pacific Entertainment should be sanctioned for failing to cure the deficiency in a timely manner.

“[T]his employer was given more than two months to submit a certified JVA after it filed its transfer application for Ms. Villarta. Indeed, PEC could have corrected the deficiency up until May 20, 2005, without penalty. Even beyond that date, the employer might have been given additional time to comply, but it neglected to contact the Processing Section after its discussion with Processing on May 17, 2005,” Cody noted.

“Based on the above facts, I conclude that the division decision to deny this application should be reversed and approved, provided that the employer pays a sanction of $150 for its conduct,” he added. (Agnes E. Donato)