H1B visa violation: US company asked to pay $43K in back wages to ex-employee

The US government on Friday asked an American company to pay USD 43,366 in back wages to a former employee for violating the labour provisions of the H-1B visa programme.

An order in this regard against the Minneapolis-based TLC Precision Wafer Technologies was issued by the US Department of Labour after the completion of an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

WHD investigators found that the employer failed to pay a microfabrication engineer the required wages as stated in the H-1B visa application it filed, and failed to maintain required records.

WHD Administrative Law Judge Theresa Timlin Judge denied credit for the firm's cash payments of USD 14,150 to the worker because it failed to report the payments on its payroll records and report the payments to the Internal Revenue Service, as required by the regulations for such credit.

"The intent of the H-1B foreign labour certification programme is to help American companies find the highly skilled talent they need when they can prove that a shortage of US workers exists," said Wage and Hour District Director David King in Minneapolis.

"The resolution of this case demonstrates our commitment to safeguard American jobs, level the playing field for law-abiding employers, and ensure no one is being paid less than they are legally owed," he said.

The department's investigation found that TLC Precision Wafer Technologies filed an H-1B petition to hire the engineer at an annual salary of USD 43,000.

The employee left TLC after he was not paid according to the labour provisions required under the H-1B visa programme, and after the employer reduced his hours and pay.

The law establishes certain standards in order to protect similarly employed US workers from being adversely affected by the employment of the non-immigrant workers, as well as to protect the H-1B non-immigrant workers, a media statement said.