NYC Staffing Company Charged With Violating H-1B Program
An investigation by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that 156 H-1B workers from the Philippines, brought into the U.S. by Advanced Professional Marketing Inc. (APMI), a medical staffing company based in New York City, to be employed primarily as physical therapists in hospitals and other medical facilities in the New York metropolitan area, are owed almost $3 million in back wages. The investigation revealed that APMI willfully failed to pay required wages, filed lawsuits seeking penalties against some H-1B employees for early cessation of employment, failed to make required documents available for examination, failed to maintain required documentation, and used incorrect prevailing wage rates on labor condition applications.
A determination letter outlines the alleged violations and assesses civil money penalties totaling $512,000 for the violations. It also directs APMI and the company’s president, Marissa Beck, to pay back wages in the amount of $2,920,270 to the 156 H-1B workers. Finally, the letter informs the company and Ms. Beck of their right to request a hearing on this determination before a Labor Department administrative law judge within 15 days.
The Wage and Hour Division maintains a list below of “willful violator employers” under the H-1B program here, and a fact sheet defining what a willful violator employer is available as a PDF.
