Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Spaceage Consulting Corporation, Jersey City, N.J., and the company’s president, Surender Malhan, $122,400 for the illegal treatment of 21 foreign workers hired as computer consultants. An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the company owed the workers a total of $253,715 in back wages.

Malhan and the company are charged with failing to pay the foreign workers proper wages under federal law. Charges also include willfully misrepresenting information on the labor condition applications used to obtain employment status for workers under the H-1B program and refusing to make the applications and other documents available for public examination.

“Malhan and Spaceage did not pay workers the prevailing wage rate,” said Corlis Sellers, regional administrator of the Wage and Hour Division’s Northeast Region. “When the foreign labor certification program is abused, the integrity of the program and its goal of protecting wage standards for U.S. workers are jeopardized.”

Because of the alleged violations, the Labor Department is taking steps to preclude the company and its president from sponsoring additional foreign workers for employment in the United States. The enforcement actions were detailed in a determination letter delivered March 1 by the Wage and Hour Division to Spaceage Consulting Corp. and Malhan.

Spaceage Consulting had requested authorization to employ the workers under the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The act allows employment of foreign nationals for a temporary period to work in “specialty occupations” in the U.S. H-1B employees must be paid wages based on what is paid to similarly-employed U.S. workers. The law also requires accurate description of the terms and conditions under which the workers will be employed.

Malhan and the company have exercised their right to request a hearing on the department’s determination. The investigation was conducted by the Wage and Hour Division’s office in Mountainside, N.J.; telephone: (973) 645-2279. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov or by calling 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

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