San Francisco, CA – The US Administration continued its successful campaign to plug fraud and illegal practices as it fined an Indian American owned company for violations of the federal H-1B foreign labor certification program.
“IT employer Cloudwick Technologies Inc., based in Newark, California, will pay $173,044 to 12 employees for violations of the federal H-1B foreign labor certification program after an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD),” announced the US Department of Labor.
The company was paying the impacted employees nearly one-tenth of the promised amounts and well below the wage levels required under the H-1B program based on job skill level, and it also made illegal deductions from workers’ salaries.
In a shocking disclosure the investigation found that, “some of the H-1B employees that Cloudwick brought from India with promised salaries of up to $8,300 per month instead received as little as $800 net per month.”
“The intent of the H-1B foreign labor certification program is to help American companies find the highly skilled talent they need when they can prove that a shortage of US workers exists,” said Susana Blanco, Wage and Hour Division District Director in San Francisco.
“The resolution of this case demonstrates our commitment to safeguard American jobs, level the playing field for law-abiding employers, and protect guest workers from being paid less than they are legally owed,” added Blanco.
To keep an eye on the future dealing of the company, the IT employer had to sign “an enhanced compliance agreement requiring them to hire an independent third-party monitor to help ensure future compliance.”
Cloudwick Technologies provides data solution services to major corporations nationwide, including American Express, Bank of America, Apple, Cisco, Comcast, Intuit, Safeway, Verizon, Visa, and many others.
On its website, the company lists Indian-American Mani Chhabra as the founder and CEO while another Indian American Harshdeep Singh is listed as Director of Operations, EMEA.
The company describes itself as leading provider of bimodal digital business services and solutions to the Global 1000. Its services include big data, cloud, advanced analytics, business intelligence modernization, data science, big data pilot-to-production, IoT, mobile application development.
Continuing its efforts to further deter and detect abuse, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has established an email address which will allow individuals (including both American workers and H-1B workers who suspect they or others may be the victim of H-1B fraud or abuse) to submit tips, alleged violations and other relevant information about potential H-1B fraud or abuse. Individuals also can report allegations of H-1B violations by submitting Form WH-4 to the department’s Wage and Hour Division.
Tejinder Singh, Editor, India America Today & White House Correspondent