University Employees Furloughed, H1-B visas, not so much ...

[One of Many]

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

University system won't furlough foreign workers

By Laura Diamond

When employees of the University System of Georgia take their mandated furlough days , foreign workers with a special visa will not be joining them.
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University System officials said placing these employees on unpaid leave would require approval from the federal government. About 750 of the system’s 40,000 employees have an H-1B non-immigrant visa, which allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty areas.

The employees work as research faculty and postdoctoral students at the University System’s research universities, spokesman John Millsaps said Thursday. According to system data, 110 are at Medical College of Georgia, 113 work at Georgia State University, 227 are employed at University of Georgia and 302 work for Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/university-system-115217.html

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Yep, that sounds about right. *ugh*

[Rebellious Republican]

1. Guess they need to get more H1-B visas, that way they...

would never have to lay anyone off. Then we could all move to another country and get our jobs back!

:sarcasm:

[pampango]

2. Wondered why they didn't just seek approval from the government to furlough the H-1B, too.

There are only 750 of them among the 40,000 affected employees.

"According to U.S. Department of Labor rules, an employee with the visa who is furloughed still must be paid by the employer, who can seek a waiver."

"The system would have to spend about $320 on each application for each affected employee to seek the waiver for six furlough days, Millsaps said. The system didn’t know how long it would take to get a response or if each request would be granted, he said. “We would have to spend money in an attempt to save money, and in the end, they may say no,” he said. “We are pretty much hamstrung by federal law on this.”

"Another requirement is that the nearly 3,200 employees who make less than $23,600 a year are exempt." (The H-1B's are "research faculty and post doctoral students". Since H-1B's generally aren't paid very much, I wonder how many of them earn under the salary cutoff and would be exempt anyway.)

"There’s been little discord over the exemptions, said Stuart Ivy, president of the UGA Staff Council, which advocates for the college’s faculty and staff members. “There has been some discussion, but once the reasons are explained, their decision makes sense,” Ivy said."
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Sounds like future H-1B's, if they continue, should have the contracts altered so that the employee can be furloughed like any one else.