DOJ settles H-1B job ad case for $45,000

Source: Computer World

Complaint filed by Programmers Guild over H-1B-only job ad

May 2, 2008 (Computerworld) A Pittsburgh-based computer consulting company that advertised for H-1B visa holders only is paying $45,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that it discriminated against U.S. citizens, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.

The company, iGate Mastech Inc., placed 30 job announcements between May and June of 2006 "for computer programmers that expressly favored H-1B visa holders to the exclusion of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and other legal U.S. workers," the DOJ said in a statement.

A complaint against iGate Mastech was filed by the Programmers Guild in 2006. It was one of dozens of complaints lodged by the Summit, N.J.-based organization against various companies.

John Miano, who founded the guild, said in a statement that the DOJ's announcement was "is probably the most visible result" of the guild's campaign against companies that discriminate against U.S. workers "in favor of cheap H-1B workers."

One job advertisement by iGate Mastech for a Java developer on Dice Holdings Inc.'s job board said "Only H-1s apply, and should be willing to transfer H-1B."

"The problem of companies only looking for H-1B workers is a serious one," said Miano. "We are only scratching the surface right now with the companies that are brazen enough to put out ads like these."



Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9081898&intsrc=hm_list

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And Many Think That Companies Wouldn't/Don't Do This. :eyes:

Please post this in the Labor forum too. I'm afraid that Latest Breaking News moves so fast that not everyone into Labor issues will see this.

:hi:

I hope more follow to stop this unfair practice.

Two months prior to the BS bailout, he was given a merit increase by his employer based upon the client's review of performance. The first week the increase was payable, his hours were shorted for the pay period; the second pay period, his rate was misrepresented at a lower rate. One week after bailing out BS, JPMC gave my spouse's incomplete project/assignment to a Cognizant employee (an Indian H-1B, personal insult to higher level injury.

A few months prior, he was invited along w/fellow JPMC employees to participate in an OOT "team building" exercise on the East Coast that cost airfare, private hotel rooms, and generous reimbursed dining. Some employees attended who worked from home not quite on the West Coast - for the exercise, an evening of bowling. It was estimated this "exercise" probably cost quite a pretty penny when all was said and done. Obviously, it had nothing to do with "teamwork."

But....spouse was also invited, then "uninvited", on the same day to a client holiday luncheon celebration quickly organized by the client around some visiting bank officers. His JPMC co-workers brought him doggie bags and told him how embarrassed they were that their employer obviously didn't believe in the "teamwork" they had just spent a bundle to promote.

they BOTH support raising H-1b cap

to piss on 30 US jobs when you get caught? Pathetic! How many more have gone undetected?

K&R!

The "Contact Us" is now disabled. I intended on writing them...:mad:

http://www.igatemastech.com/

Here is the alternate contact information off their site:

U.S. Corporate Headquarters

Pittsburgh, PA
1000 Commerce Drive, Suite 500
Pittsburgh, PA 15275
Toll-free: 800.627.8323
Telephone: 412.787.2100
Fax: 412.494.9272
Email: info@igatemastech.com

Mr. Saravanan Thiruneelakantan
Director of Human Resources & Diversity Relations
info@mastech.com
Phone: 888.330.5497

Check out the whole page on "diversity relations:"

http://www.igatemastech.com/page.php?ID=43

A nice even $25,000 per visa per year. It could be a flat tax in the beginning. Ron Paul fans would love it.

America's unemployed and underemployed IT people would be elated.

And perhaps employed in their fields.

:thumbsup:

because if you raise the fees, congress will only more directly associate H-1b with 'revenue coming in', which they already do ie lobbyist checks, and support even HIGHER caps (which they already do)

perfect example of what I'm talking about is NSF (National Science Foundation). They get boatloads of revenue off of the H-1b fees

And gue$$ what all of N$F $tudies conclude with regard to H-1b? ;

45k is NOTHING.

"The Programmers Guild has already filed 300 discrimination complaints against H-1b employers."

Good to hear that someone is doing something. :thumbsup:

Computech Agrees to Pay $2.65M in H-1B Worker Case
Company will pay workers back wages and a fine to settle federal complaint

December 12, 2005 (Computerworld) -- Computech Corp. late last month agreed to pay $2.65 million in back wages and fines to settle a U.S. Department of Labor complaint that it underpaid workers from overseas.
The company, which is settling the dispute without admitting to any of the allegations, agreed to pay $2.25 million in back wages to employees in amounts ranging from less than $2,000 to more than $40,000.
The settlement may be the largest back-wage payment ordered under the federal H-1B visa program, according to Brad Mitchell, a Labor Department spokesman.
Opponents of the H-1B program argue that foreign workers that companies bring in for high-tech positions are taking U.S. jobs. However, Computech President Ram Kancharla said the company hired the workers during the technology boom years to meet the need for workers with Java- and Web-related skills.
Kancharla wouldn't disclose the number of H-1B workers the company now uses but said most of the employees involved in the settlement have left the firm.

Workers Abroad
Computech, which handles ERP implementations, application support and development, and remote database management, today has 400 to 500 employees in the U.S. and India, with more than 200 of those based in the U.S.
According to the settlement, the company can't hire H-1B workers for 18 months.
Kancharla, who denied the federal allegations, said the company decided to settle after looking "at the cost of litigation and how long it's going to take and the kind of distraction to the business."
Some companies that have hired large numbers of H-1B visa holders have been accused by groups representing technology workers of being "body shops" that underpay foreign workers and help U.S. companies move work overseas.
"The Department of Labor aggressively enforces the law to ensure that temporary foreign workers are compensated fully and fairly," Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao said in a statement. "Abuse of the temporary foreign worker program is not tolerated, and violators, as this case shows, are vigorously pursued."

Spot Audits Needed
But Ron Hira, vice president of career activities at The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. in New York and an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology, argued that the government's enforcement mechanism is weak because it relies on complaints from H-1B workers. The Department of Labor doesn't have the power to make spot audits of companies, but Hira said the agency needs to be able to do that if it is to be proactive about such cases.
Hira said the settlement is something of a disincentive for H-1B workers because it took six or seven years to resolve and is no windfall for the workers affected.
However, Vic Goel, an immigration attorney in Greenbelt, Md., said the Labor Department action is "a clear indication that the system is working effectively."
The H-1B program has been the subject of heated contention. Opponents argue that the program is used to hire cheap labor and facilitate the offshoring of U.S. jobs. Supporters contend that foreign workers are necessary in order to meet U.S. labor needs and keep jobs in the country.
A report released last month by the Government Accountability Office won't settle that argument. The report's so-called overview of the issues reached no firm conclusion about the effects of offshoring on the U.S. economy.

http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,106913,00.html

how much more evidence do we need to present that H-1b is a screwjob on American workers?

How can any credible 'friend of American workers' still support this EVIL program?

Republican panel seeks increase in H1-B visa cap

Monday, 21 April , 2008, 23:14
Last Updated: Monday, 21 April , 2008, 23:46

Washington: A Republican caucus has asked the Democrat leadership to clear a proposed bill to raise the "artificial" cap on H1-B visas, much sought-after by skilled professionals including Indians, from the current 65,000 to 115,000, with provision for 20 percent annual increase.

The Republican Study Committee of the House of Representatives, in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, appealed to them to bring up the legislation and pass it in the next few months.

The panel called for an increase in the number of H1B visas from the current 65,000 to 115,000 and for 20 percent built-in annual increase.

The letter, addressed to Pelosi and Hoyer, was sent on Friday last. It emphasised that the demand for the H1Bs far outstrips the "artificial" quotas.

It detailed the situation in which American-educated foreigners are unable to work in this country after completing their course of study here.

"As a country, we are effectively handing these highly-educated, extremely desirable individuals a diploma and a plane ticket. The message we are sending is 'You can learn here, but you have to work in another country'," the committee of conservative Republican members told the Democrat leaders.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14653636

of COURSE they support it!

this is like being unjustly tried in court, and finding out that your lawyer is helping the prosecuter. - when you confront him (or her), your lawyer says 'but what about the prosecuter? they're persecuting you too' OF COURSE THEY ARE, that's their job!

wouldnt you be harder on the person assigned to protect you?