H1B Wage Requirement

BJP

Hi, We are a Staffing Agency and a portion of our workforce are hourly H1B employees working at clients' who have a 2 week shutdown period during the summer and the winter holidays. These employees maintain their employment status with us during this period. Should we be paying these H1B employees for this 2 week nonproductive period even though the decision to shutdown is the clients? If so, can we insist they take any earned vacation during this period? I read your article in the August Employment Law letter on this subject, but still couldn't decide on the answer.

pork1

What do you do for the US Citizens that fall into this same situation? Do to one, what you would do for others!!! I'm curious about a temp staffing agency acting as the employer for a foreign national. How did you prove to the Feds that no US Citizen could be found to work the jobs that you really don't have until some employer gives you an ordered to fill and place?

Bill Altman MI

You have to pay the employees during the shutdown.
You can make the employees use their accrued vacation during the same period, but you cannot discriminate against the foreign workers in doing so. Therefore, to be safe you should treat the foreign workers the same as others and require all of them to use their accrued vacation during the shutdown period.