The survey reports can be used in establishing prevailing wage rate determinations for CNMI employers applying for USCIS employment visas for existing and future foreign workers.
The electronic email announcement will be distributed by the Guam Employers Council, contracted by the chamber to conduct the survey. For those companies, organizations and other business and government entities wishing to receive faxed or hard copies, the chamber will be distributing the same material for those that submit a request.
The material will include a cover letter and instructions with links to forms and instructions. These include a section listing job titles and descriptions (standard occupational classifications), the data entry form for wages and salaries and the data entry form for benefits. Employers can choose to respond electronically or by fax.
The cover letter states there is no charge for participating in the survey, and in return for those that return a complete response, the participant will receive the Summary Wage & Salary Report and the Summary Benefits Report free of charge. Others that choose not to participate in the survey cannot utilize the report for 60 days from distribution. The chamber believes this incentive will produce a better survey sampling.
The chamber has engaged the services of the Guam Employers Council to manage the project. The survey is intended to measure compensation and benefit patterns in the public and private sectors. Confidentiality in the project is paramount. The reports will be copyrighted for the benefit of those that participate in the survey.
For purposes of future employment under U.S. visa requirements, the chamber is surveying the wages of workers similarly employed in the area of intended employment. By “similarly employed,” the chamber means having substantially comparable jobs in the occupational category in the area of intended employment. All participating company employees will be surveyed.
Chamber president Douglas Brennan has been encouraged by the response from CNMI employers and employees at this undertaking, and stated that the chamber “expects to produce reports that will protect our local work force, as well as provide employers prevailing wage rates that truly reflect current conditions in the CNMI, not the mainland, Hawaii or Guam.”
Brennan stressed the importance of getting the project completed as soon as possible, stating “Businesses cannot stay in business unless they have a chance to compete. This survey is a good shot right now at keeping costs reflective of our own circumstances. Not those of another economy,” he said.
The chamber reports a directory of those to be sent survey forms and instructions at well over 300. For those interested in participating and receiving copies of the report when completed, call 233-7150/7152 or email [email protected]. For Rota and Tinian, Phillip Mendiola-Long at the Tinian Chamber of Commerce will coordinate with the Saipan chamber.
