Penalty for failure to repost JVA after reopening position

Interpacific Resorts has been sanctioned $1,000 by the Department of Labor for failing to repost a job vacancy after reopening a position last month.

The company essentially failed to notify Labor when it re-opened its purchase manager position. It had done so previously when the position was first opened from July to August.

Labor found this to be “misleading” to anyone viewing the website for job announcements from Sept. 4 to Oct. 4 because after Aug. 16, the JVA was listed as “expired” on Labor’s website.

None of the three applicants for the job were considered qualified, according to testimony.

The company re-opened the position on Sept. 4, and announced it open for a month in an advertisement in a local newspaper. However, the ad only appeared for a day in the newspaper.

Labor alleged that the company failed to post a job announcement for the re-opened job on the department’s website. Company representatives testified that this was not done intentionally. They believed the posting requirement was already satisfied when it first posted the job announcement.

However, Labor believed that common sense would dictate that if any employee were to re-open or re-advertise a job, then the employer has a new obligation to re-post the job on the department’s website.

The company also could not give an adequate explanation as to why they would decide to re-open the application period for an entire month and yet only announce it for a day, according to testimony.

Labor stated that a cynic might suspect the company wished only to meet the requirement to advertise the job but did not actually want to receive applications for the position.

Labor noted that the company already employs a foreign worker who has worked in the position for seven years, and has worked for the company for a total of 19.

Labor, however, found that the company’s conduct did not justify imposing the maximum fine of $2,000.

The department found that testimony suggests that the company’s failure was the result of misreading the regulations rather than a willful attempt to circumvent the law. Half of the $1,000 fine has been suspended for a year.

It will be extinguished as long as the company follows the terms set by Labor in their administrative order and commits no further violations.