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Warning out vs non-complying food stamp retailers
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Posted on Dec 08 2008
Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat has warned retail outlets that accept food stamps that the work permits of their alien workers will be cancelled if they don’t comply with the regulations to employ at least one U.S. citizen.
Labor’s requirement to hire one U.S. citizen took effect in June 2008 in an effort to open entry-level retail jobs for citizens, said Kaipat in her interim progress report to the Legislature on the implementation of Public Law 15-108.
Kaipat, as then representative, was the principal author of Public Law 15-108, the new labor reform law.
Kaipat said that Labor’s Division of Employment Services has been systematically inspecting these retail outlets to determine whether they are complying with the hiring requirement.
She said their recent report shows that, of the 107 outlets on Saipan, 77 are compliant, three are not, and 27 have yet to be inspected. Of 11 establishments on Rota, two are compliant and nine have yet to be inspected. Of Tinian’s seven outlets, one is compliant while six have yet to be checked.
Kaipat said Labor’s Employment Services is following up with the non-compliant employers.
“If they are not in compliance by year-end, the Director of Labor will cancel the permits of all of their foreign workers for failure to comply with Commonwealth law,” she added.
With respect to the automated processing of Labor applications, Kaipat said their automated processing system has allowed them to clean out the backlogs.
“We are now operating on a current basis. Applications are processed by the Labor Division in the week in which they are submitted,” she said.
Kaipat said Immigration is somewhat behind now with respect to their part in the processing of applications “because they’ve lost employees and do not have the full benefits of an automated processing system as Labor does.”
