In the wake of recent U.S. government efforts to crackdown on H-1B program violators, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released a new tool to help employees and employers better understand their rights and responsibilities under the H-1B program.
The online compliance tool called the H-1B Advisor  describes the H-1B program’s standards, including notification requirements, monetary [...]

Tags: H-1B compliance, H-1B Rights

Image by iBrow via Flickr

If you are an H-1B worker who has been benched for months and months, despite your best efforts to find a project, you may find yourself  communicating less and less with your H-1B employer.  Maybe you’ve even stopped contact altogether.
Please know you should not reduce communications with your H-1B employer.
You should [...]

Tags: Benched H-1B, Benching, H-1, H-1B, H-1B Availability for Work, H-1B Contacts With Employer, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Rights, H-1B Wages, H1B

If you are an H-1B employee, and your employer is terminating your job and has offered you a severance agreement, you should consider the following things. (Please note this post does not provide legal advice- if you want legal advice, you should contact an attorney and discuss your specific severance agreement and circumstances).

Tags: Benching, H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Layoff, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Severance, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage

Does your H-1B employer:

Rip you off (e.g. make you pay H-1B filing fees, underpay your wages, etc.)?
Subject you to abuse (e.g. threaten you with job termination or deportation)?
Want you to do things that you think are unethical?

If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions, then you may well have a legal claim [...]

Tags: H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage

If you are an employee with concerns about your H-1B employer, or you think you may pursue a legal action someday, please know that the documentation you keep is critical.
For example, you should make sure you save all important documents, such as your Labor Certification Application (LCA) and other H-1B documents, as well as all [...]

Tags: Documentation, H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Journal, Prevailing Wage, Retaliation

H-1B employees and everyone else should check out this outstanding post by Professional Life Coach Tim Brownson: “5 Questions That Will Change Your Life.”  Mr. Brownson arms readers with 5 questions that you should ask when facing any important life decision- I should note, these questions directly apply to any H-1B employment dispute or litigation [...]

Tags: 5 Questions That Will Change Your Life, H-1, H-1B, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Rights, H1, H1B

You know your employer is violating the law. Perhaps, he has benched you with no pay; is paying you less than the required wage; has you sending out resumes instead of writing a computer program.
So why do H-1B employees put up with this situation?
One of the main reasons an H-1B employee tolerates exploitation rather than [...]

Tags: H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage

If your H-1B employer (or former H-1B employer) underpaid your wages, you may be interested in complaining to the employer or pursuing legal action, but worried about what may happen to you. You may be worried that, if you complain about unpaid wages, you may lose your H-1B status, and be subject to deportation.  These [...]

Tags: H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Settlement, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage

Fear is the biggest factor that holds many H-1B workers back from approaching their employer (or former employer), and asking for their underpaid wages, or from taking legal action.
H-1B workers do in fact have several options and legal rights. Some of those rights are very powerful.
However, those rights will not do you any good unless [...]

Tags: H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage

If you were underpaid as an H-1B, and are now outside the U.S., below are some frequently asked questions and answers.

Tags: H-1, H-1B, H-1B Employee Rights, H-1B Fraud, H-1B Legal Rights, H-1B Pay, H-1B Rights, H-1B salary, H-1B Transfer, H-1B Wages, H1, H1B, Prevailing Wage