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Labor: Worker filed complaint too late
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Posted on Sep 10 2004
The Department of Labor has ruled in favor of a nonresident worker in a labor dispute, but gave him no monetary award because he filed the complaint too late.
Labor administrative hearing officer Linn H. Asper sanctioned Loree Fernandez, doing business as Skyway Auto Repair Shop, for abandoning and failing to pay the final wages of its former employee, Paulino J. Gabriel.
For its labor law violations, Skyway was fined $1,000 and permanently disqualified from employing nonresident workers in the Commonwealth.
Skyway failed to attend the Aug. 31 hearing, prompting the hearing office to declare the company in default.
Asper, however, did not award Gabriel any monetary amount for unpaid wages, as he filed the complaint after the one-year period allowed by statute. “Therefore, [Gabriel] is not entitled to an award of unpaid wages,” he said in an administrative order.
Nonetheless, Asper maintained that the worker was not equally at fault in the labor dispute. He allowed the worker to seek and transfer to a new employer within 45 days.
“This order certifies complainant’s eligibility for conditional transfer relief and the right to remain in the Commonwealth during the time period stated,” he said.
The transfer employer should file a labor permit application for Gabriel within the time limit imposed, he added. Otherwise, the worker will have to depart immediately from the Commonwealth, at the expense of Skyway’s bonding agency. (Agnes E. Donato)
