Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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US Labor Department recovers nearly $78,000 for workers after finding Georgia company in violation of H-1B visa rules
MORROW, Ga. -- Global Teachers Research and Resources Inc. has agreed to pay $77,958 in back wages to 22 foreign teachers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found violations of H-1B visa rules governing the employment of nonimmigrant temporary workers.
Global Teachers Research and Resources Inc. is located in Morrow and provides teachers to school districts in Florida, Georgia, New Mexico and South Carolina.
“The U.S. Labor Department vigorously enforces H-1B visa rules both to protect the rights of U.S. citizens and the temporary employees in this program,” said Janet Campbell, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Atlanta. “Employers should not receive undue benefit from employing H-1B workers as opposed to hiring U.S. workers to fill jobs.”
A Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that the company’s violations included failure to keep records of hours worked by employees, to pay employees for time spent in employer-provided training and to pay workers for time spent in other pre-employment activities following their arrival in the U.S.
The H-1B program is available to employers seeking to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. The intent of the program is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.
The law establishes standards to protect similarly employed U.S. workers from being adversely affected by the employment of H-1B nonimmigrant workers, as well as to protect the nonimmigrant workers. Employers must attest to the Department of Labor that they will pay wages to the H-1B nonimmigrant workers that 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 the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment – whichever is greater.
For more information about the H-1B program, members of the public should contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Atlanta District Office at 404-893-4600 or the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
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