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Labor renovates hearing office, plans to have courtroom setting
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Posted on Nov 27 2006
The Department of Labor’s Administrative Hearing Office began its three-week renovation yesterday to kick off with its plan to transform the two hearing offices into a courtroom setting.
Administrative Hearing Office director Rose T. Ada-Hocog said all administrative hearings of 44 labor cases will be postponed during the repair that will last until Dec. 15.
Ada-Hocog told Saipan Tribune yesterday that case mediations are not affected by the renovation because such proceedings don’t need recording equipment.
She said mediations would be done instead in the conference room.
“All parties affected are encouraged to call and inquire about the new scheduled dates. If you have any questions please call us at 236-0956/57,” she said.
Ada-Hocog said they started removing all items to clear the offices before doing the painting by next week.
The director said they asked the building owner to provide his maintenance manpower to spruce up the administrative hearing offices.
“We’re trying to cut costs as much as possible so…whatever we can get free, we’re just using what we have,” she said.
With respect to her plan to construct a bench similar to that in courtrooms, Ada-Hocog said she asked help from the Department of Public Works, the Mayor’s Office, and the Legislature to provide materials or funding.
Ada-Hocog’s carpenter father, Herman Ada, came in over the weekend to assist her—free of charge—by making measurement and estimating how much materials are needed for the construction of the bench.
Ada-Hocog said there’s a lot of holes on the walls so they have to patch them up to make the offices more presentable.
At the same time, the director said, she is working on the filing system and other standing operating procedures to make the system more efficient.
“My goal is not just to spruce up the place but also to get the hearing office more efficient. I don’t like postponing or putting things off. The faster we get the cases out of the way the better off the clients will be. We’re talking about peoples’ lives here. We need to get everything going,” she pointed out.
