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Negligent oversight results in Labor sanction
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Posted on Mar 08 2006
The Department of Labor has sanctioned an employer over the negligence of his staff that delayed the filing of a transfer application for a worker.
Labor administrative hearing officer Jerry Cody reversed the Labor director’s decision to deny the application filed by Pedro Dela Cruz to employ Karma Lama.
Cody, however, sanctioned Dela Cruz in the amount of $200.
“In this case, the employee made a good faith effort and, in fact, found an employer who agreed to hire him early into the 45-day transfer period,” Cody said.
Thereafter, he said, the worker had reason to expect that his employer would complete and file the application with Labor before the end of the transfer period.
“The fact that the deadline was missed was entirely due to the negligent oversight of the employer’s staff that prepared the application,” Cody said.
Although Dela Cruz failed to meet the deadline, the hearing officer said, his failure to do so was not willful and the delay in filing was by a matter of days.
Labor records show that Lama previously worked under a nonresident work permit that expired on Nov. 24, 2005. Lama was allowed 45 days to secure a transfer employer.
The deadline to file the transfer application was Jan. 8, 2005.
On Dec. 9, 2005, Lama approached Dela Cruz seeking work. He agreed to hire Lama and instructed his staff to prepare the necessary papers to effect the transfer.
The employer’s accountant, who was assigned to prepare the transfer application, misread the date on the worker’s permit, believing that his permit expired on Dec. 24 instead of Nov. 24, 2005.
As a result, the accountant did not calendar the matter for filing before the actual deadline. The accountant filed the transfer application on Jan. 18, 2006—10 days late.
Labor denied the transfer application on the grounds that it was filed 10 days late. Cruz and Lama appealed.
