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2-year contracts for alien workers being drafted
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Posted on Mar 19 2006
The Attorney General’s Office is drafting legislation that would make two-year contracts mandatory for nonresident workers.
Currently, employers have to option of deciding whether or not to offer a one-year contract. If the Fitial administration bill is passed, a nonresident worker contract would have a term of two years, rather than one year.
“In the interest of efficiency at the Department of Labor, we are intending to provide a bill to make it mandatory that all nonresident workers be contracted for two years,” said Attorney General Matthew Gregory.
All employees will be affected, regardless of industry, he said.
Gregory noted that the measure would cut down the paperwork at Labor.
It would free up some personnel that are currently processing permit applications and renewals, and allow them to handle enforcement and other areas in which the department had a backlog.
Labor fees will remain at the same rate of $275 per worker per year, but will have to be paid two years in advance.
“This bill essentially cuts the workload in half and also increases the revenue that is generated to the Commonwealth right now,” Gregory said.
He also assured resident workers that their chances of securing jobs would not affected, even though nonresident workers would be guaranteed their positions for at least two years.
Only the scheduling would change, he said, but not the requirement that resident workers comprise 20 percent of each employer’s total workforce.
Nevertheless, local residents who may have concerns about the administration’s proposal may contact their representative once the bill has been submitted to the Legislature.
Gregory admitted that some employers may want to renew employees at a shorter length of time. “It really puts a burden on them to think long and hard about their employment choices, to find an employee that they want to keep for two years,” he said.
Other than that, Gregory said he did not anticipate any major problems.
“Many people have complained and look forward to the opportunity of not having to renew the application every year,” he said.
