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610 labor cases tagged as ‘frivolous’
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Posted on May 12 2005
The Department of Labor has identified 610 questionable labor cases, most of them filed by garment workers.
Labor Secretary Joaquin Tenorio said the cases were filed by 1,103 employees. The complaints, he said, involved high production quotas, excessive deductions for food, unpalatable drinking water, supervisors receiving better and greater variety of food than workers, and scolding and verbal abuse.
However, Tenorio expressed belief that most of the complaints were filed for illegitimate reasons.
“The identical nature of the complaints, which have been termed ‘copycat complaints,’ gave rise to the suspicion that the ulterior motive exists for the complaining party to file,” Tenorio said.
Citing investigation results, he said some workers brought the cases in order to receive temporary work authorizations so they could switch to factories with more favorable work conditions or more opportunities to work overtime.
Private translators employed by the workers were also to blame for instigating the filing of the complaints to some degree in order to collect a substantial translation fee, Tenorio added.
Earlier reports showed that some translators charge up to $300 per complaint.
Still, Tenorio maintained that each case must be investigated on its own merits to determine whether the complaint had a substantial basis or was frivolous.
To address the problem with frivolous complaints, the Department of Labor changed its policy in granting temporary work authorization to workers with pending labor cases.
“Where previously it was an automatic process for workers to receive a TWA, now a separate showing of risk to the worker, unpaid wages, or criminality or other maltreatment by the employer toward the employee must be shown before a TWA is issued,” Tenorio said. “By regulations, the decision is made by a hearing office, rather than by the Labor investigator, in order to assure objectivity in the decision process.”
Some 100 frivolous complaints have either been dismissed or otherwise settled during or as a result of mediation conducted in the Labor Hearing Office, he said.
