30-day notice now in effect for renewal or non-renewal

Employers may no longer have to wait 45 days before they can replace a nonresident worker whose employment contract has expired.

Under the new labor rules and regulations, which took effect yesterday, both the employer and the employee are now required to provide a 30-day notice of intent to renew or not to renew their employment contract.

Accordingly, the 45-day grace period given to an alien worker—whose contract was not renewed by his employer, or who chose not to renew his existing contract—would begin now on the date that the notice is filed. This gives the worker only 15 days after expiration of his contract to transfer to a new employer.

Under the old rules, only employers were required to provide 30-days notice of renewal. Therefore, employees who waited until the contract expiration to file their notice of non-renewal got 45 more days to transfer.

The business sector has raised concern over the previous rule, as the hiring moratorium blocks employers from getting a replacement until it has been ensured that the former employee has transferred to another employer or departed the CNMI, or the 45-day grace period has lapsed.

“We’re just trying to level the playing field [by requiring both parties to file their notice of intent of renewal or non-renewal 30 days before the expiration of the contract,” Labor director Dean Tenorio said.

A provision of the new rules reads, “The Division of Labor shall strictly enforce the requirement of 30 days notice by the employer to renew or not to renew the contract of a nonresident worker. Such notice shall be in writing and a copy filed with the Division of Labor.”

The new rules stated that if a non-renewal notice is timely served upon an employee, the employee will have 15 days after the end of the contract term to secure new employment. If the employer fails to serve timely notice, then the employee will have 45 days after the end of the contract to look for a new job.

If the worker fails to secure a new job within that period, he or she must depart the Commonwealth or be subject to deportation.

Also, “the employee must give the employer 30 days notice of intent not to renew the contract. If the employee fails to give 30 days notice, the employee has only 15 days following expiration of the contract to secure a new employer,” the rules stated.