Labor warns vs abuse of memorandum

Department of Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas yesterday vowed to aggressively pursue employers and employees who have been abusing the memorandum to seek temporary employment.

San Nicolas said he is sending a strong message to nonresident workers and employers who are using the memorandum that they are violating the law.

“If we find they violated the laws, both parties will be sanctioned,” said San Nicolas in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.

The secretary said that, if employers are aware that they are employing workers on the basis of the memorandum and not on temporary work authorizations, they would be sanctioned with fines.

The employers, he added, will possibly be temporarily or permanently barred from hiring nonresident workers in the CNMI.

“The employees should understand that because it is written on the document. The memorandum states clearly the do’s and the don’ts,” he pointed out.

Under the scheme, no taxes are paid because the workers are compensated with cash and their wages are not reported to the government.

San Nicolas explained that TWA authorizes a temporary employment contract, while the memorandum is just an authorization to seek a temporary employer.

“But what is happening…what we have found out in some of our investigations [is that] employees who are issued memorandums are using this document to work, which is obviously illegal,” he said.

“It is very clear on the document that this is not an authorization to work. This is an authorization for you to seek a temporary employer. Once you find a temporary employer, you come in and apply for a temporary work authorization,” he said.

If a worker gets a TWA, San Nicolas said, that is already an authorization for him or her to work.

“That is basically a temporary work permit. The memorandum to seek a temporary employer is not an authorization to work,” he emphasized.

The secretary said he would like to see that, before they even issue the memorandum, a government lawyer should screen first if there is a need to issue such a document in the first place.

San Nicolas said Gov. Benigno Fitial instructed him to revisit their regulations with respect to the issuance of memorandums or TWAs.

He said he agrees with Fitial that non-payment of wages is a serious issue and that it should be entertained immediately.

San Nicolas said he has to sit down with the department’s legal counsel to discuss the change of procedures pursuant to the regulations.