Just as the Indian IT services industry was showing signs of improvement, Senator Chuck Grassley is introducing legislation to bring reforms to the H1-B and L visa programs. The intention is to see that Americans are given top consideration when applying for jobs.
The legislation makes reforms to increase enforcement, modify wage requirements and ensure protection for visa holders and American workers. Grassley believes the bill would provide a good basis for H-1B reform in the comprehensive immigration bill being put together by a bipartisan group of senators.
"Somewhere along the line, the H-1B program got side-tracked. The program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialised areas of employment. When times are tough, like they are now, it’s especially important that Americans get every consideration before an employer looks to hire from abroad,” Grassley said.
Some of the changes that the bill recommends includes for all companies to make a good faith effort to hire Americans first.
The bill asks prospective H-1B employers to list available positions on a Department of Labor sponsored website for a period of 30 days prior to petitioning for foreign labor. It prohibits employers from advertising only to H-1B visa holders.
Grassley in his bill also says that the wages paid to H-1B visaholders must be the highest of the locally-determined prevailing wage for the occupational classification in the area of employment; it should be the median average wage for all workers in the occupational classification in the area of employment; or the median wage for skill level 2 in the occupational classification found in the most recent occupational employment statistics survey.
The bill also seeks to increase administrative fines per violation from $1000 to $2000 and from $5000 to $10,000 for willful misrepresentation and restricts the ability of these companies to participate in the future recruiting of H-1B and L-1 employees.
Grassley also points out that according to an October 2008 Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessment from US Citizenship and Immigration Service revealed more than a 20% violation rate by those who use the H-1B visa program. The GAO also revealed in 2011 that the program lacks sufficient controls to ensure that employers are abiding by the rules. Recently, data from fiscal 2012 revealed that the top 10 companies that use the program are offshoring firms that take up nearly 50 percent of the visas available.
The bills also asks State Department consular officers to provide a brochure to visa holders about their rights under the H-1B and L visa programs. The employee would also get copies of his immigration paperwork, and a list of employer obligations (including wage and working condition requirements).
The legislation makes reforms to increase enforcement, modify wage requirements and ensure protection for visa holders and American workers. Grassley believes the bill would provide a good basis for H-1B reform in the comprehensive immigration bill being put together by a bipartisan group of senators.
"Somewhere along the line, the H-1B program got side-tracked. The program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialised areas of employment. When times are tough, like they are now, it’s especially important that Americans get every consideration before an employer looks to hire from abroad,” Grassley said.
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“The legislation will benefit the American worker, while still ensuring that US companies get the specialised workers they need,” he added.
Some of the changes that the bill recommends includes for all companies to make a good faith effort to hire Americans first.
The bill asks prospective H-1B employers to list available positions on a Department of Labor sponsored website for a period of 30 days prior to petitioning for foreign labor. It prohibits employers from advertising only to H-1B visa holders.
Grassley in his bill also says that the wages paid to H-1B visaholders must be the highest of the locally-determined prevailing wage for the occupational classification in the area of employment; it should be the median average wage for all workers in the occupational classification in the area of employment; or the median wage for skill level 2 in the occupational classification found in the most recent occupational employment statistics survey.
The bill also seeks to increase administrative fines per violation from $1000 to $2000 and from $5000 to $10,000 for willful misrepresentation and restricts the ability of these companies to participate in the future recruiting of H-1B and L-1 employees.
Grassley also points out that according to an October 2008 Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessment from US Citizenship and Immigration Service revealed more than a 20% violation rate by those who use the H-1B visa program. The GAO also revealed in 2011 that the program lacks sufficient controls to ensure that employers are abiding by the rules. Recently, data from fiscal 2012 revealed that the top 10 companies that use the program are offshoring firms that take up nearly 50 percent of the visas available.
The bills also asks State Department consular officers to provide a brochure to visa holders about their rights under the H-1B and L visa programs. The employee would also get copies of his immigration paperwork, and a list of employer obligations (including wage and working condition requirements).