Multiple jobs regs to be published again

For the second time, the Department of Labor will publish at the Commonwealth’s Registrar the proposed amendments to the Nonresident Workers Act in the wake of several feedback on the issue from the public.

Officials from Labor Department and the Attorney General’s Office said the amendments will be published again on June 23. The first publication happened earlier this year.

The new schedule gives the public another 30 days to comment on the entire proposal, which already contains the latest input from the public.

The extension of public comments came following the government’s conduct of a “last hearing” on the amendments Monday at the Multi-Purpose Hall in Susupe.

“We want to allow the public more time to comment,” said Steve Newman, the governor’s legal counsel.

DOL public information officer Donnalynn Castro said the department wants to be “careful” in going about the process.

DOL legal counsel Kevin Lynch said the department clarified a lot of issues relating to the proposed amendments through public comments. “It’s quite significant,” he said.

Meantime, Lynch said the latest changes in the proposed amendments deal with, among others, the issuance of a memorandum to seek temporary employment as well as casual employment.

Under the current practice, a memorandum allowing nonresident workers with pending cases to seek temporary employment is issued by DOL investigators. Under the proposal, a hearing officer or a case mediator would be the one to issue the memorandum pursuant to a set of criteria.

On casual employment, Lynch said that the number of hours is increased from eight hours to 16 hours a month. “That’s one of the changes we’ve made after receiving input from people,” he said.

Lynch described Monday night’s public hearing—attended by no more than 20 people, mostly private attorneys—as “very positive.”

“We discussed a wide range of issues,” he said, noting that lawyers were most concerned about bonding costs that their clients—businesses—would have to shoulder.

For instance, the nonresident annual workers’ permit application fee would increase to $275 from the current $225.

In a recent forum, DOL said that the bond’s coverage would be equal to six months’ wages from the current two or three months’ wages.

Lynch said the current bonding fee is insufficient in today’s standards, noting that the current regulations had not been changed since adoption in 1988.

“The current amount is inadequate given the fact that medical costs, transport costs, etc. have substantially increased since 1988,” Lynch said.

Medical coverage would also increase to $10,000 under the proposed rules. Other changes would also include the elimination of exit requirement for immediate relatives prior to working in the CNMI.

Officials said the proposal’s provision on multiple jobs for nonresident workers remains one of the much-talked about issues during discussions.

Among others, the provision holds the primary employer responsible for housing and medical cost except for the medical costs incurred as a result of second employment.

The proposed regulations would also limit the work time of the employee in the second employment.

DOL was heavily criticized when it initially raised the issue of second jobs for nonresident workers last year. The local community generally opposed it, believing it would take jobs away from local residents, among others.

Authorities noted that multiple work or part-time jobs for alien workers is not prohibited under the existing Nonresident Workers Act. It has not been allowed simply because it is not spelled out in the regulations.