Defunct garment firm told to pay wages to eight more alien workers

The Department of Labor has found the defunct Rifu Apparel liable to owe wages for unprovided work to eight more of its alien workers.

Labor Administrative Hearing Officer Jerry Cody said the eight Chinese workers—Xi Shi, Fei Yue Zhou, Ai Ping Chen, Xiao Yan Li, Yun Li Li, Qin Liu, Bing Bing Bai, and Zhi Hong Chen—were inadvertently omitted from the last administrative order.

Cody ordered Rifu Apparel to pay the workers in the amounts ranging from $842 to $1,628.2.

The hearing officer said in the event that Rifu fails to pay the wage awards in a timely manner, the applicable surety bond company shall be responsible for paying such amounts to the limits specified in each bond.

“Failure to pay the bonds in bad faith may lead to sanctions assessed against the bonding company,” he said.

Cody required Rifu to provide repatriation airline tickets for all the workers who do not find new employers or who decide to go back to their country.

According to Labor records, an administrative order was issued last Feb. 27, which addressed the wages issue due to 56 Rifu workers as a result of the factory on Saipan.

After the order, Labor identified the eight more workers who had been inadvertently omitted from the list submitted by the Labor Hearing Office Director in preparation for the order.

Rifu paid wages of its employees through Dec. 6, 2008. The factory notified Labor and its employees of its intent to close its operations permanently on Feb. 6, 2009.

During a status conference, Rifu acknowledged its obligation to pay to its workers for 30 days following the official notice date of closure.

The workers were working under a 32-hour work week at $4.05 per hour, earning $129.60 per week.

Rifu owes its employees unpaid wages for the period from the last paycheck on Dec. 6, 2008, until the end of the 30-day notice period on March 8, 2009, or the end of their work permits, whichever comes first.

Labor earlier found Rifu to owe wages for unprovided work to 56 of its alien workers plus medical expenses to four of those employees or for a total of $85,083.89.

Rifu’s general manager Kidong Choi informed Labor on Nov. 19, 2008, that apparently due to the delayed in the confirmation of orders from the buyers, there would be no production activities in the factory in San Vicente starting that week until the first week of March 2009.

Choi told Labor that workers should continue reporting to the factory as they will still be getting paid.

Rifu claimed that it planned to stop its operations temporarily for several months and then resume business operations.

Rifu then paid all of its current employees their wages through the period ending on Dec. 6, 2008.

On Feb. 6, 2009, Rifu gave a notice to Labor that it had closed permanently as of that date.