need advice- new to USA.. not getting paid

[drumbeat39]

I need to get some advice.. first it is for my girlfriend who is working as a Physiotherapist in New Jersey. I have been helping her as she has been overwhelmed with everything. I am in Canada and she was here but is in New Jersey now working on a working visa.
Her first job who sponsored her.. she is from the Philippines.. did not pay her properly and did not treat her well. I am not naming any names yet with respect to her and her integrity, but she has really been abused and we are not sure what steps Americans take without going to the courts.
The worst abuse is she has not been paid accordingly: she arrived there in June.. worked for this guy in New Jersey, for 1 week and a bit of training and then about 5 weeks of work as a licensed physiotherapist. The verbal agreement was $30/hour. She has been naive in not getting anything in writing. It was not clear about this training pay- about 40 hours. He paid her only $300 for this. Then she started working after leaving and returning..long story.. but her sister is in another state so she stayed there while awaiting her license and getting a driver's license.
Now that she got certified, she worked for him for around 5 weeks, from early July mid. August, and he gave her only $500 cash and then bounced the cheque. He has been very evasive for her.. she has waited upon him as he said to meet her and all these games he plays on her. He had some woman talk to her since she is also a Philippino who basically threatened her that she could go to jail if she quit while being sponsored by him. She actually never worked for him but for his friend who has a clinic and but he (the original employer) was to pay her for this work. The original employer has a Chiropractor office..had 5 of them.. 4 went bankrupt and has only one now. She had to work for his friend who was mean to her, so she quit.
Now she has a better job and has to move again. She has had to return to Canada to renew her visa and needless to say she is so so far in debt. It seems so wrong as I am a teacher up here, that people in a professional body can get away with this, so I am helping her get help as I know it should be there somewhere without her spending money she does not have. She is not part of any Physiotherapy board, but I am wondering what someone there would advise. She is looking into the Labour relations board to get the paper work and put in a complaint, but is there some way to pressure this guy to pay which will leave her professional integrity intact?

so I will appreciate any advice.
I will pass any advice onto her.
thanks

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[Oms_manager]

Hello - this whole thing sounds so shaddy. I'm sorry that she had to go through something like that. Here is what I can tell you. When she went to the consulate in Canada or Philippines to get her H1B visa she would have brought a copy of her I-129. In the form, it states what the employer was going to pay her. It is also stated in the LCA (Labor Certification Application). By law the employer has to abide by paying her the required wage. Since the LCA is approved by our Department of Labor it is mandatory that the wage is at least what was stated on the LCA. It is usually the prevailing wage or above. Unfortunately the prevailing wage is probably much lower than 30 an hour even though the market wage is higher. In regards to working in various places...an H1B is very strict on ONLY working for the approved employer. She could not moonlight elsewhere since the H1B even asks where she will be working if not the principle location. However if the employer still paid her than I think the employer can get away with it. I'm unsure of that. From what I read she made very little in fact the amount of hours divided by what she was paid sounds lower than minimum wage which is another violation unless she was 1099. So I think the only thing she could do is sue him for lost wages. She would need documented proof of the hours she worked versus pay checks and hire an atty. So the wages may be hard to get. Check out this site, you can file a wage claim for NJ. Department of Labor and Workforce Development | File a Wage Claim


This is off of a site:


Issues Arising from Termination of H1B Employees
Posted Dec 14, 2001

In this uncertain economic climate, we thought it timely to provide information on employer’s and employees' issues upon the termination of H1B Employees for the benefit of our MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers.

The legal issue pertaining to termination of an H1B employee is an evolving area. We understand that there are social and economic issues for the employer and the employee, low morale among the remaining employees at the workplace, loss of income to the employee, loss of a sense of identity for certain employees, as well as other psychological consequences of termination. These issues are beyond the scope of this NewsBrief. With respect to termination, we focus on the immigration law angle based on existing law, regulations, and INS policy guidance.

a. Obligation to provide reasonable costs of return transportation :

When an H1B worker is laid off before the end of the authorized period of stay, the H1B employer must provide reasonable costs of return transportation for the employee to his or her last country of residence. The law does not appear to require the H1B employer to pay the reasonable cost of the airline ticket for returning the family members or for transfer of the H1B employee's property to the home country.

Employers should keep in mind also that there is no obligation for an employer to provide the employee return transportation costs if the H1B employee chooses to remain in the U.S.

The employer can choose to fulfill the obligation to pay return travel costs in various ways. For example, the employer could either provide an amount equal to the reasonable return costs and obtain a written release from the terminated H1B employee or, alternatively, the employer could provide the H1B employee with the return air ticket through the employer's travel agent, within a reasonable time after termination. This will ensure that the H1B employee does not collect the money and then decide not to depart the U.S.

If an employee believes that the employer is not complying with the above requirement, a complaint may be filed with the INS. Note, however, that INS policy regarding enforcement of the obligation is unclear and INS statutory authority to enforce this requirement is lacking.

It may be possible for a terminated H1B employee to enforce this obligation through state courts. However it is unclear as to whether this approach would succeed since there do not, as yet, appear to have been any cases pertaining to this issue. This is likely to be because it seems financially unsound to pursue litigation for a small amount of money.

We advise the employer to keep a record of compliance with this obligation

I would contact the Department of Labor as well as INS they will need to investigate and it is mandatory that the employer has all documentation on site which for what I read I doubt they have. I hope this helps!

Let me know if she decidesshe wants to come back and work in NJ we put in writing that she'll be making 30/hr to start.