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Labor fines firm for negligent administration
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Posted on Dec 08 2004
The Department of Labor has fined a garment factory for allowing a nonresident employee to continue working without renewing his contract or permit for three months.
Hearing officer Jery Cody ordered Rifu Apparel Corp. to pay $250 within 10 days. He said the Division of Labor will resume processing the application submitted by the company for worker Yang Jisheng provided that the company complies with the order.
Rifu Apparel filed the renewal application for Yang on March 3, 2004, three months after the maintenance worker’s permit expired.
The Division of Labor denied the application on grounds of untimely filing and the company appealed.
At the hearing, Rifu Apparel resident manager Maria S. Ada explained that in November 2003, Rifu’s management decided not to renew this worker’s employment and prepared a non-renewal letter. However, management failed to deliver the letter to the worker.
After Dec. 15, 2003—the expiration of Yang’s contract—Yang continued working for Rifu in the belief that his permit was being renewed. He said no one from Rifu’s management asked him to stop working. Rather, the company continued to use his services and pay his salary.
In early March 2004, Rifu’s management office discovered that Yang was still working in the maintenance section of the company. The company then decided it would continue the employment and submit a renewal application for Yang.
While the employer had been negligent in its administration, its solution was reasonable. Cody said.
“Under the circumstances, the employer’s ‘solution’ was an equitable means to deal with this worker, whose time for a permit expiration transfer had already passed and who had been treated for three months as if he had, in fact, been renewed,” Cody said.
