Rifu found liable to pay $85,083 to 56 workers

The Department of Labor has found the defunct Rifu Apparel liable to pay wages to 56 of its alien workers plus medical expenses to four of those employees, for a total of $85,083.89.

At a status conference held at Labor on Feb. 20, Rifu, through its resident manager Maria Ada and counsel Richard Pierce, acknowledged its obligation to pay wages to its employees for 30 days following the official notice date of closure.

Labor Administrative Hearing Officer Jerry Cody ordered Rifu to pay $1,684.80 to each of the 48 workers—for a total of $80,870.40—for unpaid wages from Dec. 12, 2008, through March 8, 2009.

Cody said the 48 employees are owed unpaid wages from the date of their last paycheck on Dec. 6, 2008, until the end of the 30-day notice period, March 8.

Cody also ordered Rifu to pay eight other workers with wages ranging from $21.60 to $539.86.

The eight employees hold work permits that are expiring within the 30-day notice period or between Feb. 6, 2009, to March 8, 2009.

Cody determined that these eight workers are entitled to receive wages from Dec. 6, 2008, until the expiration date of their permits.

With respect to medical expenses, Cody ordered Rifu to reimburse four workers in the amount ranging from $65.60 to $834.92 for the payments they made using their own funds.

Rifu also acknowledged its obligation to cover these medical expenses.

Cody gave the company 21 days to pay each worker.

“In the event that Rifu fails to pay the wage awards and unpaid medical expenses in a timely manner, the applicable surety bond company shall be responsible for paying such amounts to the limits specified in each bond,” he said.

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

The hearing officer required Rifu to provide repatriation airline tickets for all workers who do not find transfer employers or who decide to go back to their countries.

If Rifu fails to provide the tickets, Cody said, the applicable bond company shall be responsible for the tickets.

Last Feb. 20, Labor issued an order that allowed the 56 employees to seek new employers.

Rifu’s general manager Kidong Choi informed Labor on Nov. 19, 2008, that due to a delay in the confirmation of orders from 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 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.

The following day, the two remaining garment factories on Saipan—U.S. CNMI Development Corp. and MGM—officially shut down operations.