Title 4, Economic Resources

Excavation and Demolition Permits. A permit issued pursuant to law, authorizing excavation or demolition operations, shall not be deemed to relieve a person from the responsibility of complying with the provisions of this chapter. Source: PL 9-4, § 5.

Duty to Ascertain Location of Underground Utilities. Except as provided in 4 CMC § 8207, no person may excavate in a street, road, highway, public space, a private easement of an operator, or near the location of a utility installed on the premises of a customer served by such ut…

Notice of Intent to Excavate or Demolish. Except as provided in 4 CMC § 8207, before commencing any excavation or demolition operation designated in 4 CMC § 8204, each person responsible for that excavation or demolition shall serve written notice or intent to excavate or demolis…

Response to Notice of Intent to Excavate or Demolish. (a) Each operator notified in accordance with 4 CMC § 8205 shall, not less than five working days in advance of the proposed excavation or demolition (unless a shorter period is provided by agreement between the person respons…

Emergency Excavation or Demolition. Compliance with the notice requirements of 4 CMC § 8205 is not required of persons responsible for emergency excavation or demolition to ameliorate an imminent danger to life, health, or property, provided, however, that those persons give, as …

Precautions to Avoid Damage. In addition to the notification requirements of 4 CMC § 8205, each person responsible for any excavation or demolition designated in 4 CMC § 8202 shall: (a) Plan the excavation or demolition to avoid damage to or minimize interfering with underground …

Excavation or Demolition Damage. Each person responsible for any excavation or demolition operation designated in 4 CMC § 8202 that results in any damage to an underground utility shall, immediately upon discovery of the damage, notify the operator of such utility or the location…

Damage; Cost of Repairing. Any person who damages a utility line is liable for the payment of all costs incurred by the operator to restore the utility to its original condition. Any person who duly notifies the operator as provided in 4 CMC § 8205 shall not be liable to the oper…

Tree and Vegetation Planting Restriction. (a) No tree or vegetation that has the potential to grow to more than one-half of the height of a power line shall be planted within twelve feet of any power line, measured laterally from a point on the ground directly under the aerial po…

Civil Penalties. (a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty not less than $5,000 and not to exceed $10,000 for each such violation, except as provided in subsection (b). (b) Any person found in violation of section 8211 shall be …

Short Title. This chapter may be cited as the Minimum Wage and Hour Act. Source: PL 1-20, § 1. Commission Comment: PL 1-20 took effect January 12, 1979.

Definitions. As used in this chapter: (a) “Agriculture” means agriculture as defined in Section 3(f) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 [29 U.S.C. § 203(f)], or as the same may be amended from time to time. (b) “Department” means the Department of Commerce and Labor;…

Minimum Wages. (a) Every employer, other than a garment or construction business, and except as the secretary may provide under 4 CMC § 9234, shall pay to each employee employed by him or her, a minimum wage as follows: (1) Beginning January 1, 1995, at the rate of $2.75 per hour…

Maximum Hours. No employer shall employ any employee in excess of 40 hours a week, unless the employee receives compensation for employment in excess of such weekly hours at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed. “Regular rate” shall…

Exemptions. (a) Exemption. The provisions of 4 CMC §§ 9221 and 9222 do not apply with respect to: (1) A person employed by his son, daughter, spouse, or parents; (2) A person employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity, or in the capacity of an outs…

Duty of Director: Staff. The director shall enforce the provisions of this chapter. The director may employ such staff as may be required to assist in enforcing the provisions of this chapter, pursuant to budgetary appropriations. Source: PL 1-20, § 6. Commission Comment: With re…

Employer’s Records; Furnishing of Pay Data; Director’s Rights and Duties. (a) Every employer shall keep in or about the premises wherein any employee is employed a record of the name, address and occupation of each employee, of the amount paid each pay period to each employee, of…

Disclosure of Information. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, information secured from inspection of the records, or from the transcription thereof, or from inspection of the employers’ premises by the director, shall be held confidential and shall not be disclosed or …

Learners, Apprentices, and Student Employees; Handicapped Workers. The director may provide by regulations for the employment: (a) Of learners, apprentices, and part-time employees who are full-time students attending public or private schools other than colleges, universities, b…

Oaths, Affidavits, and Subpoenas; Witnesses and Immunities. (a) The director may administer oaths, take or cause to be taken the depositions of witnesses, and require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of all books, records and other evidence…

Rules and Regulations. The department shall adopt rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter or to prevent the circumvention or evasion of this chapter and to safeguard the minimum wage rates established. These rules and regulations may defin…

Right of Collective Bargaining Protected. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to interfere with, impede or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages in excess of the applicable …

Prohibition. The Wage and Salary Review Board shall be prohibited from rolling back the current minimum wage of $2.75 per hour. Source: PL 9-50, § 4. Commission Comment: With respect to the reference to the “Wage and Salary Review Board,” see Executive Order 94-3 (effective Augus…

Legislative Action. The legislature may by law adopt, modify, or reject the annual report of the Wage and Salary Review Board. In the event that the legislature does not take action with respect to the annual report prior to the date of the next scheduled increase in 4 CMC § 9221…

Willful Violations; Penalty. Any employer who willfully hinders or delays the director in the performance of his or her duties in the enforcement of this chapter, or who willfully refuses to admit the director to any place of employment, or who fails to keep or falsifies any reco…

Other Criminal Violations. (a) The following persons may be found guilty of a misdemeanor: (1) Any person disclosing information in violation of 4 CMC § 9233; or (2) Any employer who willfully violates any provisions of this chapter or of any rule, regulation or order issued unde…

Liability of Employer to Employee. Any employer who violates any provisions of 4 CMC §§ 9221 or 9222 is liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation, and in the case of willful violation, an additional eq…

Collection Suits; Attorney’s Fees; Assignments; Relief from Costs. (a) An action to recover liability under 4 CMC §§ 9221 or 9222 may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees s…

Injunctions. Whenever it appears to the director that any employer is engaged in any act or practice which constitutes or will constitute a violation of any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation, the director may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdicti…

Limitation of Actions. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any action commenced on or after October 4, 1996, to enforce a cause of action for unpaid wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages under the Minimum Wage and Hour Act, 4 CMC § 9211 …

Frivolous Actions or Defenses. Any complainant or respondent in any agency action filed before the Department of Commerce and Labor, or its successor agency, under the Minimum Wage and Hour Act, 4 CMC § 9211 et seq., or the Nonresident Worker Act, 3 CMC § 4411 et seq., may file f…

Board of Directors: Membership and Quorum. (a) The affairs of the authority shall be governed and controlled by a board of directors, which shall consist of seven members; (b) Members of the board shall be appointed by the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands with the advice …

Board of Directors: Meetings of the Board. (a) Quarterly Meetings Required. The board shall meet not less than once each quarter at a time and place designated at least 14 days in advance by the chairman. (b) Other Meetings. The board or the chairman may convene other meetings on…

Board of Directors: Compensation of Board Members. The members of the board shall be compensated pursuant to 1 CMC § 8247 and may be reimbursed in accordance with the Commonwealth law for any reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under this…

Board of Directors: Resignation, Removal and Vacancies of Board. An appointed member may at any time resign his office by notice in writing to the Governor. Upon resignation, removal or expiration of the term of appointment the member shall cease to sit on the board, and shall no…

Board of Directors: Duties and Powers of the Board. (a) Duties of the Board. The board shall have the following duties: (1) To govern the operation of the authority in a manner that further its purpose; (2) To take action necessary to the exercise by the authority of its powers u…

Officers of the Authority. (a) The officers of the authority shall be an executive director, a comptroller, and such other officers as the bylaws may require for the operation of the authority. (1) The board shall appoint an executive director. The person so appointed shall be kn…

Bonding Required of Directors and Officers. The directors and officers shall require the posting of fidelity bonds for authority personnel who handle public funds and may, at authority expense, post personal fiduciary bonds in an amount of not less than 100 percent of the total a…

Confirmation of Board: Transition. (a) The initial board of directors shall be appointed by the Governor, pursuant to 4 CMC § 10301(b), within 45 days of May 31, 1985. The Senate shall exercise its confirmation authority over the Governor’s appointees no later than 45 days after …

Tax on Gross Revenue. (a) Except as otherwise provided, there is imposed on every person, a yearly tax on the person’s total gross revenue. The tax shall be determined in accordance with the following schedule: If the yearly total The tax on the yearly total gross revenue is betw…

Tax on Agriculture Producers and Fishing. (a) In lieu of the tax rates of 4 CMC § 1301(a), the tax imposed on persons: (1) registered with the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture as artists; or (2) engaged in the business of producing agricultural products in the Commonweal…

Tax on Manufacturers and Wholesalers. (a) In lieu of the tax rates of section 1301(a), the tax imposed on manufacturers and wholesalers shall be in accordance with the following schedule: If the yearly total gross The tax on the yearly total revenue is between: gross revenue is: …

Exemptions. Notwithstanding any other provision, 4 CMC §§ 1301(a), 1302 and 1303 shall not apply to the gross revenue: (a) Derived from the revenue generated by the export of goods, resources, food, fish or agricultural products produced or manufactured in the Commonwealth and ex…

Education Tax Credit. (a) Person may take cash contributions made during the tax year to qualifying educational institutions as a nonrefundable credit against the tax imposed by 4 CMC §§ 1301, 1302, 1303, and 1304 to the extent provided by this section. No such credit shall be al…

Returns and Payment of Tax on Gross Revenue. (a) In General. Every person subject to this chapter and every person conducting business within a Commonwealth Economic Incentive District shall file a return and pay the tax, if any, on a monthly basis. The secretary shall by regulat…

Nonrefundable Credit. (a) A person may take the tax imposed on gross revenues under 4 CMC § 1301, or any other Commonwealth tax or fee imposed under other divisions or titles of the Commonwealth Code in lieu of such tax (such as 4 CMC § 2202(e)), as a nonrefundable credit against…