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Caregiver urges feds to look into labor situation
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Posted on May 18 2012
A caregiver urged federal authorities yesterday to investigate labor abuse allegedly being committed by some CNMI employers against their caregivers.
The caregiver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Saipan Tribune that some employers require them to work 24 hours a day with no days off.
Employers should let them leave the house at least on Sundays, said the caregiver, who has been working for her employer for more than 10 years now.
Some employers, she said, are not paying their caregivers’ wages on time. Many caregivers are paid on a monthly basis instead of per hour.
The caregiver said they don’t have medical insurance and some of them have to buy their own food although they are staying in their employers’ house.
“Authorities should look into our situation and employers should realize that we are also human beings,” the caregiver said.
She said she is aware of 20 caregivers who have the same complaints but are scared to speak out in open.
She said most of them used to be domestic helpers but became caregivers when the federalization of CNMI immigration took effect.
