It is “impossible to verify the revenue figures reported” by Triple T. Corp for its catering operation,” according to the administrative order issued by Labor Hearing Officer Jerry Cody.
During the hearing, Cody said, that contradictory evidence was presented on the issue of when Rodolfo Fabillar, a cook, began working for his employer.
Triple T’s manager Dan Salvador testified that the company had a catering business and “it was his understanding” that Fabillar was its cook.
But Fabillar testified that he never worked for Triple T’s catering business and the firm’s administrative assistant Sandra Abella gave “evasive and unresponsive answers when asked whether [the cook] had performed work for the company.”
Cody said the employer’s business gross revenue tax quarterly return for 2008’s first quarter indicated $3,925 in revenue from its catering business but Fabillar’s withholding tax for the same period was $1,817.60.
“Based on the documentary evidence and testimony, either the appellant-workers is lying under oath about his working for this employer for these past months, or the employer is falsifying wages reported on its employer’s quarterly withholding tax return,” stated the order issued on Aug. 7.
Cody said if Fabillar did perform work for Triple and received $1,817.60 “both employer and employee should be sanctioned as the employment was done without permission or authorization.”
An agency investigation may be necessary to determine whether the employer violated the law by employing Fabillar without authorization, Cody added.
Triple T president Tirso Adriatico, who did not appear at the hearing, should be compelled to appear for the investigation, Cody said.
Labor deferred the granting of a transfer relief to Fabillar until an agency investigation is concluded.
On June 7, 2007 Triple T, which said it was engaged in handicrafts, construction and catering, submitted a permit transfer application to hire Fabillar as a cook.
On April 7, 2008, the department denied the application, citing the company’s failure to comply with a deficiency notice and its income which, Labor said, did not justify the hiring.
