Andrew P. Andrus, executive director for the Employers Council Inc. on Guam, said during his presentation at the multi-purpose center yesterday that a CNMI prevailing wage rate will become more important as more employers will begin to apply for foreign labor certificates without having to use the existing rates on Guam and the U.S. which are much higher.
Andrus said they are hoping to get about 300 participants, but if they get fewer, the data will still count as valid and solid if the companies that joined the survey are prominent.
“Our expectations in the number of participants could not always be met, but if we get the participation of the top companies who are the trendsetters in the pay rates, we can use the data to come up with the prevailing wage rate in the CNMI,” Andrus said.
He said they would like as many participants as they can get, including the government which Andrus said plays a major role in the survey because it hires a lot of people.
“The government is like one big corporation, and we need their participation,” Andrus said.
He said the survey has begun but they will be doing the actual work sometime next week when they will be sending out emails to the different businesses about the prevailing wage rate survey.
The emails are complete with instructions to participants announcing the 2011 Survey of Wages, Salaries and Benefits among Specified Jobs and Organizations in the CNMI, the participant’s organization code, and a link to the survey’s cover letter and instructions online.
Andrus assures the respondents of total confidentiality of the survey reports.
He said the Standard Occupation Classification will be used as the standard for the job codes, titles and descriptions, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Participants are not required to write their company and employees’ names but they will be using the job code which will be provided for each specific job description and the base rate of salary for each employee,” Andrus said.
The actual survey form, which will have 2-10 pages depending on the number of employees and the number of job descriptions for each company, will include questions for the 2011 CNMI Wage & Salary Survey, 2011 CNMI Basic Benefits Survey, and more spaces for notes and comments.
Andrus said all the questions will have to be filled out otherwise the data will not be counted.
The deadline for submission of data is not later than 5 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2011. Andrus said they are hoping to have all the data reports complete by October.
Saipan Chamber of Commerce executive director Richard Pierce said they will have the results copyrighted and distributed free to businesses that participated in the survey. The reports that will be furnished to the participants will include a list of the participating organizations, wage and salary report, benefit report, and other related documents.
Pierce said those who will not participate can still avail of the copyrighted survey reports but at a much later time.
“It would be unfair for those companies who took time and effort to fill out the survey forms if those who did not participate can still get their copies on time,” Pierce said.
