Local
Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Labor to new alien workers: No orientation, no permit

By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

The Department of Labor has been conducting hearings for the revocation of work permits issued to alien workers who entered the CNMI after Jan. 1, 2008, and failed to attend an orientation session within a week of arrival. The cutoff marks the effective date of Public Law 15-108, the new labor reform law.

“We gave these workers two weeks in which to complete the orientation requirement and those who failed to do so have had their entry permits revoked and have been repatriated,” according to Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat.

The new labor reform law, which was authored by then Rep. Kaipat, requires orientation for every alien worker entering the Commonwealth.

Labor conducts orientation sessions for newly arrived alien workers every Tuesday mornings since the regulations became effective on Feb. 1, 2008.

During the sessions, foreign workers hear a presentation on their rights and responsibilities under CNMI law. Labor personnel question them about their job situation.

“We have discovered workers entering with phony documents, workers entering with no employer, workers entering with documents describing one job but the actual work appears to be a different job, and many variations on these themes,” Kaipat said. (Ferdie de la Torre)