The Hindu Business Line : Nasscom mum on US guild report on H1B visas

THE National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has declined to comment on the study by the Programmers Guild in the US which has said that the H-1B programme primarily benefits India-based employers operating in the US, and not American companies and has further implied - but not alleged outright — that Indian companies are in violation of H-1B labour laws and regulations.

In response to a query from Business Line, a spokesperson of Nasscom stated: "At the moment, we are not commenting on the subject or the study. However, in case of any development, we will definitely keep you posted on the same."

The H-1B programme has been criticised on the grounds that, despite the safeguards incorporated in it to prevent employers from paying less than the prevailing wages for tech jobs, it contains loopholes which are frequently exploited.

According to Mr Kim Berry, President of the Programmers Guild, its findings indicated a flaw in the H-1B programme. "The law lets them use so many sources to determine prevailing wage... The law should specify a minimum salary, above the median wage of comparable US workers."

It may be recalled that that several changes had been made to the law last year to make the exploitation of foreign workers difficult. For instance, the law was amended to require companies to pay 100 per cent of the prevailing wage, up from 95 per cent.

However, according to critics of the visa system, no benefits accrued because of another change in the law involving the surveys used to determine the prevailing wage. In this context, Mr Kim Berry points out that by increasing the number of wage levels in the surveys from two to four, employers now find it easier to pay low wages by categorising experienced H-1B workers as novices.

According to the Guild, its study further reinforces the sentiment prevalent among American programmers that the H-1B programme primarily benefits India-based employers operating in the US, and not American companies.

The Guild has compiled a list of the "lowest paying H-1B employers of computer workers for FY 2004 which states: "An analysis of the employers who are paying the lowest H-1B wages reveals that these companies are disproportionately run by Indian nationals, hiring almost exclusively young Indian nationals to displace American workers , in blatant violation of EEOC, sex, age and national origin laws. These wages are for jobs that require a BS degree and specialised experience beyond what a new college graduate would possess. So why are they being paid significantly less than new US graduates?"

The list, which identifies employers who applied for 100 or more H-1B visas, includes Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, American Digicom Corp., Jags Software, Dibon Solutions, Cambridge Resource Group, Allied Informatics, HIDEF Technologies, Radiant Soft Sol, and Materials Software Syste.

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