Can anyone help me understand how stronger is my case and when and how to react on this. Should I start filling WH4 before it is too late , or wait as I am planning to go to vacation in India for December.
Background :
I started working for a Desi consultant in Virginia as soon as I graduated in May 2011. I was in OPT and the offer letter stated that my base pay is 51K and not major benefits are detailed.
Employer immediately placed me in a Forture 100 company as a QA analyst . There was a prime vendor between my employer and client . After joining I slowly worked through the system and started working in lead/managerial roles ( no direct reports) and working on project execution , facilitation , process compliance verification roles .
I was on OPT and I was never worried about my pay for almost an year , then I was a bit concerned and approached my employer on phone about my pay concern ( Since he was from same region in India we use to have conversations on phone). I never got any positive response all I hear is Prime vendor not paying him well , so he cannot afford to give me any benefits.
In April 2012 he filed for my H1b and took 5000 USD by cash and the exchange happened in a suspicious way . There might be some proof that he got the money , but it will be a weak case .
I left to India as there was a query on OPT , and at the USCIS office they recommended me to take that action to not go out of status till october 2012. I never recieved any pay as I was not working at client .
Then I went to India and had tons of trouble in getting my h1b stamped and my employer did not help me in this aspect. I had to work a lot convincing people at my client to get the client letter and finally my H1b was approved to be started in October 2013.
I landed in USA on October 2012 and started working with the same client again on my H1b . In May 2013 I had to relocate to a different facility for the same client to work in a remote mode ( Employer did file LCA for this ) .
Here are my concerns .
1) My W2 pay in 2013 is 5K less than wage agreed upon in LCA ( Initial and amendment filed) .
2) I reviewed LCA to see why prevailing wage is low , and I see that my job level is selected a 1 , and I am sure that the role I am performing is 3 or 4 . So , my employer provided false information on LCA.
3) Even though I am salaried as per LCA , I never get consistent pay on my paystubs , it is somewhat proportional to my timesheets for work .
4) I get very minimal benefits , no 401k , no pension , they have never shared insurance plan until I requested one . I am pretty sure no one will work in this conditions.
5) No relocation was provided by employer when I had to relocate 1500 miles for the client
6) Employer took 5000 dollars for my H1b
7) I had no base pay increase in last 3 years . Infact my W2 pays are approximately mentioned below.
2011 - 25K ( For 7 months)
2012 - 36K ( Accounting for loss of pay for my visa rejections)
2013 - 45K ( Full year on H1b)
2014 - Same trend as last year
8) I feel that my employer is preventing me to go on direct payroll of prime vendor . As I faced this issue multiple times last year.
9) I feel that my W2 pay is less even on my OPT time period for same job , not sure if there are any laws that protect an OPT student . I feel that most of the employers exploit this loop hole.
Background :
I started working for a Desi consultant in Virginia as soon as I graduated in May 2011. I was in OPT and the offer letter stated that my base pay is 51K and not major benefits are detailed.
Employer immediately placed me in a Forture 100 company as a QA analyst . There was a prime vendor between my employer and client . After joining I slowly worked through the system and started working in lead/managerial roles ( no direct reports) and working on project execution , facilitation , process compliance verification roles .
I was on OPT and I was never worried about my pay for almost an year , then I was a bit concerned and approached my employer on phone about my pay concern ( Since he was from same region in India we use to have conversations on phone). I never got any positive response all I hear is Prime vendor not paying him well , so he cannot afford to give me any benefits.
In April 2012 he filed for my H1b and took 5000 USD by cash and the exchange happened in a suspicious way . There might be some proof that he got the money , but it will be a weak case .
I left to India as there was a query on OPT , and at the USCIS office they recommended me to take that action to not go out of status till october 2012. I never recieved any pay as I was not working at client .
Then I went to India and had tons of trouble in getting my h1b stamped and my employer did not help me in this aspect. I had to work a lot convincing people at my client to get the client letter and finally my H1b was approved to be started in October 2013.
I landed in USA on October 2012 and started working with the same client again on my H1b . In May 2013 I had to relocate to a different facility for the same client to work in a remote mode ( Employer did file LCA for this ) .
Here are my concerns .
1) My W2 pay in 2013 is 5K less than wage agreed upon in LCA ( Initial and amendment filed) .
2) I reviewed LCA to see why prevailing wage is low , and I see that my job level is selected a 1 , and I am sure that the role I am performing is 3 or 4 . So , my employer provided false information on LCA.
3) Even though I am salaried as per LCA , I never get consistent pay on my paystubs , it is somewhat proportional to my timesheets for work .
4) I get very minimal benefits , no 401k , no pension , they have never shared insurance plan until I requested one . I am pretty sure no one will work in this conditions.
5) No relocation was provided by employer when I had to relocate 1500 miles for the client
6) Employer took 5000 dollars for my H1b
7) I had no base pay increase in last 3 years . Infact my W2 pays are approximately mentioned below.
2011 - 25K ( For 7 months)
2012 - 36K ( Accounting for loss of pay for my visa rejections)
2013 - 45K ( Full year on H1b)
2014 - Same trend as last year
8) I feel that my employer is preventing me to go on direct payroll of prime vendor . As I faced this issue multiple times last year.
9) I feel that my W2 pay is less even on my OPT time period for same job , not sure if there are any laws that protect an OPT student . I feel that most of the employers exploit this loop hole.
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