By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

THE 39 alien workers abandoned by Valenzuela Janitorial Services are owed $37,152 in contract wages, unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and reimbursement of improperly collected fees but it’s unlikely the workers will receive the money owed to them, according to Department of Labor Hearing Officer Barry Hirshbein.
Valenzuela Janitorial Services, owned by Pantaleon B. Valenzuela, and his wife Teresita B. Valenzuela, were also ordered to pay $19,500 for various violations of the Nonresident Worker Act and the Alien Labor Rules and Regulations.
But the Valenzuela couple has not returned to Saipan since they left last year, making it impossible for the abandoned workers to be paid their wages or recover the money they paid for fees.
Moreover, bonding companies only reimburse unpaid wages for actual work done. Only two of the 39 workers performed actual jobs for the employer. One of them, Daniel Q. Andaya, worked for 23 weeks without pay.
Hirshbein said Andaya is entitled to $2,806 for the unpaid wages, plus liquidated damages in an equal amount for a total of $5,612.
“As in this case,” said Hirshbein, “the Department of Labor may issue an order awarding wages but collection of the full amount owed is not always possible. It is almost always to a worker’s advantage to report abuses and violations to the Department of Labor sooner rather than later.”
Most of the alien workers waited for weeks or months for the promised work until Valenzuela left Saipan on Aug. 8, 2006, and his wife, on Oct. 1, 2006. Some of them applied for work as early as March 2006.
Hirshbein, in an administrative order, allowed 36 of these 39 workers to seek transfer employers within 45 days from Feb. 27.
An administrative hearing on the case was held on Tuesday, and 38 of 39 of the abandoned workers showed up. The remaining worker had left the CNMI.
In his seven-page order, Hirshbein said Pantaleon B. Valenzuela, Valenzuela Janitorial Services and Teresita B. Valenzuela are permanently barred from employing alien workers in the CNMI.
Hirshbein said he believes that most, if not all, of these workers paid a fee to secure employment but only 17 were willing to admit that they did so.
The 17 workers earlier said they paid $400 to $800 for the processing of their papers. Employers are required to pay such fees under CNMI labor law.
“This case reflects a number of issues worthy of note,” said Hirshbein. “For the most part, it is not proper for an employer to collect fees from a worker. If payment of any kind is required, it must be stated in the contract. The workers in this case were advised that they should, in the future, look elsewhere if an employer requires payment of fees.”
Hirshbein also advised the workers to report any employer’s request to pay fees to the Department of Labor.
A conditional grant of transfer was approved for many of the workers in this case. An employer, according to Hirshbein, is expected to immediately employ a worker for whom a conditional grant is approved.
“Many of the workers in this case went months without work. It is important for workers to remember that they have access to the Department of Labor in order to find out the status of their case and whether they have the right to work or not,” said the hearing officer.
Valenzuela Janitorial Services is one of the many employers in the CNMI that have abandoned their workers.