Thread: NJ company fined for violating H1-B visa program

NJ company fined for violating H1-B visa program


TRENTON — An Iselin computer consulting firm has been fined more than $80,000 for
allegedly violating federal immigration rules that allow companies to hire foreign workers under a special visa program.

The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered the Iselin-based Data Group Inc. to pay the money to 11 foreign-born workers after an investigation found the company violated the program.

The Immigration and Nationality Act's H-1B visa program allows companies to temporarily hire foreign-born workers with special skills when they can't locally recruit to fill a position.

Federal labor officials say the company failed to pay required wages for one year to computer experts hired under the program.

A man who answered the phone today at Data Group's office declined to comment.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... S/80918024

I have a strong suspicion this entire H1-B visa program is a complete shame, bought and paid for by the corporate lobbyists who advocate on behalf of big business in this country. It's simply another tool corporations use to avoid having to hire American workers.

H1-B workers in the office, illegal invaders in the warehouse and out in the field performing manual labor type work. Every greedy corporate need has ben fulfilled.

If a company would go as far as not to pay their H1-B workers, what's the likelihood they were being honest in their claims no American workers were available in the first place? That's what should be investigated!

The original intent of the H-1B program was to temporarily fill spot shortages in our skilled labor market until an American can be found or trained. However, companies have turned it into a way to hire foreigners for less than they would pay Americans for comparable work. Foreigners have turned it into a stepping stone to immigration, which it is not. Right now foreign workers here on H-1Bs are lobbying our congress as if they were the citizens, not us. They are especially trying to get HR 5882 out of committee. That bill would mean around a half million instant extra green cards for them so they can stay. They are arguing that this would not take any jobs away from Americans as they are already here working. They forget to mention that the job they are currently in should have gone to an American, and should be offered to an American before offering them a green card (that's the law those lawyers were teaching companies how to get around in that YouTube video about how not to hire an American). They are, in effect, trying to hang on to ill-gotten gains. Meanwhile another blizzard of pink slips for Americans has begun.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

If a company would go as far as not to pay their H1-B workers, what's the likelihood they were being honest in their claims no American workers were available in the first place? That's what should be investigated!

The changes to the H1-B visa program were put in by the Bush administration. Their official documents try to rewrite history by saying that the foreign temporary worker programs always allowed for replacing American workers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1B_visa

Employer attestations to protect U.S. workers

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for ensuring that foreign workers do not displace or adversely affect wages or working conditions of U.S. workers.

The Department of Labor states that the H-1B law doesn't require employers to seek local talent before recruiting abroad for their US job openings, except in limited circumstances when the employer is considered H-1B dependent:

The DOL's [Strategic Plan http://www.dol.gov/_sec/stratplan/strat ... 6-2011.pdf , Fiscal Years 2006-2011 (pg. 35) states: "... H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker."

The [Federal Register http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/fedreg/final/2006005740.pdf , dated June 30, 2006, Section II, paragraph 4, "the statute does not require employers...to demonstrate that there are no available US workers or to test the labor market for US workers as required under the permanent labor certification program."

Employers must attest that wages offered are at least equal to the actual wage paid by the employer to other workers with similar experience and qualifications for the job in question, or alternatively, pay the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment, whichever is greater. By signing the LCA, the employer attests that: prevailing wage rate for area of employment will be paid; working conditions of position will not adversely affect conditions of similarly employed American workers; place of employment not experiencing labor dispute involving a strike or lockout.

Prior to 2005, the law required H-1B workers to be paid the higher of the prevailing wage for the same occupation and geographic location or that which the employers pays to similarly situated employees. Other factors, such Age and skill were not permitted to be taken into account for the prevailing wage. Congress changed the program in 2004 to require the Department of Labor to provide four skill-based prevailing wage levels for employers to use. Employers using this system classify most workers at the lowest skill level. This is the only prevailing wage mechanism the law permits that incorporates factors other than occupation and location.

The law specifically limits the approval process of LCAs to checking for "obvious errors and inaccuracies."[2] The approval process for these employer attestations simply amounts to the checking the form is filled out correctly.

I grew up right next to Iselin. It is now has a huge Indian community which started in the 1980's. I could be wrong but I bet you the foriegn workers were from India.

Just an insight.

Outsourcing Conduit…
But a review of new information from the federal government suggests that the companies benefiting most from the temporary worker program aren't U.S. companies at all. Rather, they appear to be Indian outsourcing firms, which often hire workers from India to train in the U.S. before returning home to work. Data for the fiscal year 2006, which ended last September, show that 7 of the top 10 applicants for H-1B visas are Indian companies. Giants Infosys Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) took the top two spots, with 22,600 and 19,400 applications, respectively. The company with the third most applications is Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has most of its operations in India. All three companies provide services to U.S. companies from India, including technology support and back-office processing.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnf ... _top+story