Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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LIVONIA, Mich --

Soft Labs Inc., a Livonia, Mich. firm that supplies computer professionals to other firms, was ordered to pay a $33,000 fine for violations of the worker notification rules applicable to employment of H-1B non-immigrant workers, and will be barred for one year from renewing expired visas for its current workers under the Immigration and Nationality Act’s H-1B visa, or hiring new workers under the program.

An investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Soft Labs assigned foreign H-1B computer specialists to work on the premises of other firms, but failed to post appropriate notices at each worksite where the workers were employed. The law requires that when H-1B workers are placed at other firms, the employer must post notices identifying the occupational classification, the period of employment, stating the wages offered to the H-1B worker and informing all parties of the right to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division.

“The H-1B program helps meet the legitimate needs of U.S. employers, while at the same time ensuring that employers gain no economic advantage by using temporary foreign workers instead of U.S. workers,” said James Smith, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Detroit. “The H-1B notification rules are an important part of that process.”

The H-1B visa program allows foreign workers in professional occupations such as computer programmers, engineers, medical doctors, and teachers to enter and work temporarily in the U.S. H-1B workers must be paid the same wage rates and benefits as those paid to U.S. workers already doing the same job in the same area.

The Wage and Hour Division enforces the H-1B wage provisions of the Immigrant and Nationality Act, in addition to other federal laws pertaining to wage payments. For more information please visit www.wagehour.dol.gov or call toll free 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

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