Federalization will mean new fees as well as stricter rules in the hiring of guest workers, he said.
Speaking before the Society for Human Resource Management yesterday, Grey said employers should now asses their workforce needs in anticipation of the federal takeover of local labor and immigration next year.
Society for Human Resources Management president Frannie Salas said businesses are facing uncertainties in the absence of the new regulations.
“We don’t know where to begin,” she said. “Obviously it’s going to be a big disruption for businesses in the CNMI,”
The first draft of the federal regulations will come out by November, Grey said, and the final regulations are expected to be completed and presented to the public in January next year.
In the meantime, CNMI rules remain in effect, he said.
The contracts of nonresident workers expiring before June 1, 2009, when the federalization law will take effect, can still be renewed under CNMI law, he added.
Under the federal system, it will take two months to process the application and another four months to get the visa if the applicant passes the visa interview process at the U.S. Embassy, Grey said.
Under this federal policy, he said, 90 percent of CNMI applicants might be rejected.
“Their chances are very remote,” Grey said.
Salas said guest workers are vital to the CNMI economy “and it is important to know what will happen to their positions.”
What categories of job will be eliminated is still uncertain, she said, and this will affect business projections.
Their group, Salas added, is planning to hold a second forum that will feature an individual knowledgeable about the federal immigration system.
The CNMI private sector is heavily dependent on a foreign workforce. Most locals work for the local government which pays higher wages and offers more benefits.
