Note to employers of H-1B employees. H-1B Compliance is on the rise.
2009-Cognizant recently agreed to pay $509,000 in back wages as a result of a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation into its prevailing wage practices. Cognizant bellieves that it complied with prevailing wage requirements but agreed to pay the wages due to pressure from DOL. See the Silicon India article at:
2008-Eleven managers of affiliated companies were arrested on serious charges of mail fraud and conspiracy based on fraudulently prepared and submitted Labor Conditions Applications. In this case, the managers completed all LCAs for the lower prevailing wage work location of Iowa while workers were placed at positions throughout the United States. As an example, the prevailing wage for a Level I Software Engineer (Applications) in Des Moines, IA is $54,538 while the same position in Orange County, CA requires a prevailing wage of $61,776. Therefore, the employee was being paid $7238 below the required wage. Multiply this number by hundreds (or thousands) of employees and you’ll see the company’s motivation.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/news/sou/blog/11-arrested-in-h-1b-fraud-sweep/?cs=30493
2007-Patni paid $2.4 million in back wages for shortages to H-1B employees.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9023964
Fines, indictments and debarrment from filing future H-1Bs is at stake. How does a company become and remain compliant?
1. Do a complete audit of all of company LCAs. Make certain the work location reported on the LCA is the work location where the beneficiary is assigned. Make certain the wage reported is the proper prevailing wage required of the position. (compare with the job description) In some cases, you could be under reporting the prevailing wage by selecting a Level I wage for a position which requires a much more experienced individual. LCA compliance assistance is available at http://www.dol.gov/compliance/
2. Prepare new H-1B petitions to correct any LCA deficiencies for material changes in job duties, salary or corrections in geographical wok locations.
3. Expect an audit.
4. Pray that you can complete all of this before you are audited.
5. Set up internal systems for tracking geographical and job duty changes so that you remain compliant.
6. Call an attorney experienced in compliance and H-1B issues for advice. This is a potentially costly area for companies and the managers who participate in the immigration program. Is your company next? You should not try to navigate this alone.