Previous Story
Employer under investigation
|
Posted on Aug 10 2004
The Department of Labor has recommended an investigation against an employer who deliberately withheld information from the department about the closure of his business in order to obtain a permit for an alien worker.
Hearing officer Jerry Cody asked the director of Labor to review if the conduct of P’Art Corp. was “deceptive and should be discouraged.”
Records showed that on Sept. 29, 2003, P’Art applied for Jin Zi to work as a poker attendant in the employer’s poker gameroom in Susupe. On Feb. 9, 2004, the department issued a deficiency notice, noting the application was missing several items.
The processing section received no corrective documents from the employer over the next several months. On May 6, 2004, the department issued a notice of denial of the application. The appeal followed.
At the hearing, the department found out that the employer’s poker establishment closed on Nov. 30, 2003, but the employer neglected to notify the department about the closure for seven months, until after the notice of denial for Jin Zi had been issued.
An official from the company said that he had not informed the department about the closure because he was waiting for the permit to be issued. The official candidly admitted that he had assumed Jin Zi would transfer to another employer after receiving her permit to work for P’Art.
After the business closed, Jin approached the employer’s agent on numerous occasions and was told to continue waiting for her permit.
Cody noted that, although the worker should have informed the department about the business’ closure, her silence is understandable in view of the agent’s advice.
Thus, the hearing officer concluded that the conduct of the worker “while not blameless, is understandable, given the poor advice she received from the agent.”
Cody affirmed the Labor director’s denial of the application, but granted Jin’s request for a transfer relief. He also referred the employer’s conduct to the Labor director for review.
