Last Friday, May 1, the hearing office started collecting $50 for an extension request as required by the employment rules and regulations published in the Commonwealth Register on Sept. 25, 2008.
In a notice posted at the hearing office, Labor said the payment will be made to the CNMI Treasury.
The fee will be paid at the time of the submission of the extension request.
Acting Labor Secretary Cinta Kaipat said they’re charging the fee because the operation costs taxpayer money and those who benefit from the service should help pay for it.
Prior to implementing this fee, she said Labor amended its regulations, published the regulations for public comment, and met with workers and their representatives to discuss a reasonable amount.
Labor allows for an extension of time to transfer when a foreign worker has prospects for employment but has been unable to complete the necessary paperwork within the normal 30-day period, Kaipat said.
This policy, she added, benefits CNMI businesses in these difficult economic times but never displaces U.S. citizen applicants because all of these jobs are subject to job vacancy announcements and there is preference for U.S. citizen applicants.
All of the fees, of any kind, assessed by Labor are paid to the CNMI Treasury, she said.
Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas, in the public notice, said proposed rules and regulations are promulgated to implement the changes that took place because the department has changed its procedures when it brought its new automated processing online and include certain operations in its new interactive Web site, www.marianaslabor.net.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said the administration relies on Labor to charge reasonable fees and cover costs in accordance with law.
Based on the regulations, a hearing officer may grant a transfer if other remedies are insufficient to provide a foreign worker the benefit of the bargain made when entering the approved employment contract.
The order granting a transfer will specify the time period, not longer than 30 days, within which the foreign national worker must secure new employment, from the date of the order.
The hearing officer, however, can make specific findings of exigent circumstances requiring a longer period.
Pilipino Contract Workers Association chairman Jun Concillado said the new fee is “inhumane.”
“Why should they compel a jobless person to pay a fee? Where will they get the money?”
