Governor Ralph DLG. Torres and Lt. Governor Arnold I. Palacios, through the Department of Commerce’s Central Statistics Division announce the beginning of data collection for the 2020 CNMI Prevailing Wage Study (PWS), utilizing an online data collection portal system.
All businesses and employers in the CNMI, private and public, with employees or with no employees, are urged to log on to http://cnmidata.commerce.gov.mp/ and complete the Prevailing Wage Study survey questionnaire before June 30, 2020.
Secretary of Commerce Mark O. Rabauliman noted that this online portal is in line with the Governor and Lt. Governor’s move toward online public services and the use of technology.
“Upon entering the portal, businesses and employers will be prompted to create a username and a password. After creating a username and password, you will begin the survey by providing your company information and information for each of your employee. Be sure to allow yourself time to review and understand the survey instructions provided on the portal before proceeding to complete the survey,” said Secretary Rabauliman.
The NMI US Workforce Act of 2018 requires the CNMI to publish a prevailing wage report annually for CW-1 visa determination and approval by the US Department of Labor. Additionally, the 2020 PWS data will also be used to publish a separate report detailing the survey methodology with a more detailed occupational wage statistics for PERM, H-1B and H-2B determination and approval by the US Department of Labor.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic presented some challenges for our government operations, we ask our private sector partners, businesses, and employers for their patience and to take some time and complete this important survey. This will be our fifth round of a prevailing wage survey, but it is our second year in a row to conduct and publish a CNMI Prevailing Wage Report on an annual basis as mandated by the NMI US Workforce Act of 2018,” said Governor Torres.
Secretary Rabauliman emphasized the importance of completing the survey and thanked the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, businesses on Rota and Tinian, and other CNMI community-based organizations for putting out the word on this important survey.
“The success of the 2019 PWS that was conducted by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce using mass email encouraged our plans to go digital with this type of survey. Preparations began early this year for this data collection portal, however, the unfortunate circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic created some setbacks. However, our hardworking team at the Central Statistics Division steadily worked remotely from home on putting the portal to work. I want to thank the Governor and Lt. Governor for their leadership and everyone involved for making this great leap into making this data collection method possible,” said Secretary Rabauliman.
For more information or if you have any questions and inquiries regarding the 2020 CNMI Prevailing Wage Study, please contact the Department of Commerce, Central Statistics Division at 322-3005/3007 or at cnmi.csd@commerce.gov.mp.
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