On March 12, 2012 USCIS revised the FAQs that reference the Jan 8, 2010 Donald Neufeld Memo that relates to the employer-employee relationship in adjudicating H-1B Petitions for 3rd Party Jobsite Placements. This topic is still very complex and greatly impacts the IT, healthcare and staffing agency industries in their ability to file for H-1B visa petitions on behalf of foreign professionals.  We link above to this updated guidance, and  remind you that our office is available to assist you with your H-1B case filings as it relates to these and other industries. If you have any questions pertaining to this topic or any other matter, please contact us.

Our August 2011 InFOCUS immigration newsletter is now available.  We encourage you to sign up to receive our monthly news and Blog posts that report on immigration issues, employer compliance, policy and legislative issues, as well as Department of State and visa updates.

We invite you to continue to visit our website and our Employer Compliance Resource Center for the latest developments on key issues.

In this economy, we’ve received countless phone calls asking about this issue.  Putting an employee on leave (or “benching”) because you have no assignment for them does not relieve the employer from continuing to pay salary.  Doing so will expose you and your company to some very heavy-handed judgments, such as being assessed to pay back wages, benefits, and penalties on top of this.

As contract work becomes harder in this economy, particularly for those that work in the IT sector for an IT consultant or staffing agency, employers must protect themselves, even if it means that sometimes you must let a valuable employee go.

Per H-1B reguations, employers are required to pay full salary to the employee even during non-productive time.

If you have questions concerning this issue or require the expert services of our firm, please contact us today.

Leslie Davis, Managing Director

Immigration Solutions |  info@immigrationsolution.net |  562 612.3996