Division Director Alfred Pangelinan said an employer is only given 14 days after the publication of job vacancy to either hire or reject the applicants.
Since www.marianaslabor.net was made available to job vacancy announcements and employment applications, Pangelnan said the division has improved the Web site to allow employers to reply to the applicants immediately.
“An automated e-mail will be sent over to the employer who will see the names of are applicants,” Pangelinan said.
Applicants should regularly check their e-mails, he added.
Pangelinan said employers can now respond immediately and even set a schedule for interviews. The result of the interview will also be announced on time.
Resident applicants, he added, will always be given the priority.
Nonresident workers on island are the second priority while off-island applicants are the third priority, he said.
If the applicant fails to reply within a 14-day period, he added, he or she is immediately disqualified.
An employer also has to act during the same period of time, Pangelinan said.
The division will ask an employer why it failed to take action within 14 days, the Labor official said.
“Our objective here is to get applicants hired if qualified,” he added.
According to Pangelinan, if an employer refuses to hire a qualified applicant, Labor office is obliged not to certify the company’s job vacancies and not to allow it to renew or hire nonresident workers.
There have been a few cases when an employer failed to act on the applications within the given period, he said.
“They are too busy to take action or sometimes they say the applicant is not qualified, Pangelinan said.
Labor also determines if the employer’s requirements are fair.
Pangelinan said many residents are applying online.
He urged employers not to discourage local applicants.
Because of the low wages offered by the private sector, most locals prefer to work for the CNMI government.
The local private sector remains dependent on nonresident workers.
