Sponsoring Foreign Workers for Green Cards in 2021: Top 10 Issues for Employers to Validate in the Wake of a $14.25 Million Financial Settlement
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- Low unemployment rates and a shortage of STEM talent continue to drive visa sponsorship of foreign workers by US employers.
- H-1B visas have a ceiling of six years except if workers are sponsored by their employers for “green cards” early in the process (typically by year four).
- Numerous employers, especially in the tech field, are offering foreign workers “green card” sponsorship. As of the beginning date with the company as a recruitment incentive.
- Organizations sponsoring workers for employment-based green cards are needed to show as part of the application process. That they couldn’t track down any qualified American workers to fill the job, a job market testing program known as “PERM” sponsorship.
- A major technology organization agreed on 19th October 2021. To pay a financial penalty of up to $14.25 million. This includes $4.75 million to the US government and up to $9.5 million to eligible victims of alleged discrimination.
Sponsoring Foreign Workers for Green Cards in 2021
- The government’s suit claimed that the organization had illegally reserved jobs for foreign workers. It was sponsoring for permanent residence instead of searching for and considering available US workers.
- The Department of Justice complaint alleged that the organization inappropriately deviated from normal recruiting norms. By requiring applications for PERM-sponsored jobs to be sent to the organization instead of, as was the standard practice for general recruiting, submitted online.
- The complaint further alleged that the organization didn’t post these positions on its professional site. As was its standard practice for general recruiting, which appeared to bring about extremely low numbers of US worker applications for the PERM roles.
[Facebook to pay $14.25 million to settle claims it favored H1-B Visa Holders]
- The Department of Labor (DOL) also executed a settlement with the organization based on its audit of certain of the company’s pending PERM applications. In which the organization agreed to engage in additional notice and recruitment for US workers. And as a result of which the company will face ongoing audits by DOL.
- As part of the settlements, the government will monitor the company’s PERM program for the following three years. And DOL will conduct extra audits of the organization’s PERM filings.
