Posted on 07/05/2007 5:01:51 PM PDT by spintreebob
A global IT company with a work force in Bloomington agreed to pay $#2.4 million to visa workers whom a federal agency claimed were underpaid compared to U.S. worers.
India based Patni Computer Systems will pay an average of about $4,000 each to 607 employees for work performned in 32 states in 2004 and 2005, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.
Patni, which has more than 12,000 clients globally, employes more than 400 workers in Bloomington, and analysts for serveral investment firmst list State Farm Insurance Cos. as one of the company's largest U.S. clients.
It's unclear whether any of the workers involved in the case worked in Bloomington or with State Farm, however.
Of the 607 employees receiving payments, 46 worked in Illinoiis, said John Chavez of the U.S.Department of Labor: More specific detail of woerker's employment was unavailable, he said.
Chavez didn't know what triggered the department's investigation of Patni but said the issue centered on a foreign worker program that requires employers to pay prevailing wage rates so they don't undercut the salaries of U.S. worrkers.
Patni VP Avdjut Nadkrni, who works at the firm's downtown Bloomington office........ the violation was the result of an accounting error....
(Excerpt) Read more at pantagraph.com ...
No specific comment on the firms named. But in general in firms like this in the midwest the wages have a very big variance among all workers, citzens, legals with green card, legals on H1B and illegals. I've worked between a guy who was a genius at both the business and technology of the client. He loved what he did so much he probably work for free, and almost was at $14,000/yr. On the other side of me a guy had zero technical ability, did not know the business, but was a great negotiator making $200,000 per year. The consulting world has an even bigger variance than the permancent employee world, where the variance is still big.
At the firm where I started in '83 it was my job to filter and distribute resumes from new college grads to hiring managers. Although HR claimed consistency of pay scale, the variance for the same type of entry level jobs was between $20,000 and $65,000 with most at about $42,000. The applicants with inside connections, an uncle, cousin, etc snarfed up the high paying jobs. It had zero to do with their ability. Those with low self-esteem settled for the bottom.
Thus, I suspect that among H1B workers there are some who believe the same cliche that some anti-immigrants believe, namely that immigrants take lower wages. Those who believe this and settle for lower wages are then labeled underpaid. Those who are good negotiators are, of course, then overpaid. I've known some low skilled but good negotiator Indians who made far more than I do (I'm in the middle as an average negotiator).
Anecdotally, any statement someone makes can be shown to be true in some cases.
Herein lies the problem with the Illegal Alien situation and they should sue hell out of the US Government.
No link to the article. The link leads to a crowded front page instead.
Please don’t let Michael Moore read this article. The last time he read the Pantagraph in Bloomington he took a letter to the editor and turned it into a headline.
http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhutchis/pantagraph.jpg
I typed ‘patni’ into search box:
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/07/03/money/doc468ac3cbd0875294053613.txt
The same thing was happening on the project that I am working on. The companies that represented most of the Indian guys were billing the client at $160/hour and only paying the worker $40/hour. The contract company was keeping $120/hour.
Ann Coulter stated last week that the way to solve this immigration problem is to let the immigrants sue companies for paying them under minimum wage.
The real problem is that Congress condones it and enacts laws that allow it to happen.
ping
“Herein lies the problem with the Illegal Alien situation and they should sue hell out of the US Government.”
There was no allegation or hint of allegation that any of the Patni workers were illegal. Allegedly they have valid H1B type visas or green cards.
This is the problem with the “antis” who argue the immigration issue. Too many “antis” are confused; mix apples and oranges; and then try to get others to buy into their agenda.
I’m not saying there aren’t hi tech illegals. I’ve worked beside plenty of them in the past.
Painting with a broad brush is another credibility problem of the “antis”. A small percentage of the immigrants were found to be underpaid. That means that the vast majority of them are not underpaid.
I’ve worked beside many of them for many years. Just as with citizens, the same is true of both legal and illegal immigrants. Some in all 3 categories are OVER-PAID. Some in all 3 categories are UNDER-PAID. Most in all 3 categories are paid fairly close to the average for their skill set.
The big subjective issue with Indians is their command of the English language. It varies widely... and some speak with such an accent and non-American style that they are quite difficult to understand. But that is no different than those from other allegedly English speaking countries.
I’ve worked beside hi tech Aussies and South Africans who knew only English and no other language. They were impossible to understand. One can only say “email me”.
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