Infosys gets clean chit from US Labour Dept in H1-B visa violation case

With regards to Tata Consultancy Services, a clarification is expected in coming weeks.

In a relief to Infosys, the US Department of Labour has concluded its probe into the IT giant firm and found that the company has not violated any rules with regard to H1-B visas. A clarification on Tata Consultancy Services is expected in coming weeks, according to CNBC TV-18.

In a statement issued, the company said, “the US Department of Labor (DOL) concluded its investigation with a determination of compliance regarding labor condition applications filed in the Southern California Edison project. Infosys fully cooperated with the DOL in its investigation, and over 145 files were reviewed, with no violations found.”

“Infosys is a responsible participant in the H1-B program. We do not practice or condone unfair or unethical H-1B visa practices. Our key priority is to operate fairly, ethically and with integrity, which is good business and what our clients expect,” the statement quoted Sandeep Dadlani, EVP as saying.

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In June this year, the US Department of Labour has opened an investigation against Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys for “possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison,” the New York Times had reported.

The power company had recently laid off more than 500 technology workers amid claims that many of those laid off were made to train their replacements who were immigrants on the temporary work visas brought in by the Indian firms.

Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois and Jeff Sessions of Alabama had announced the investigation after they were notified by the department, the report said.

The move by the Labour Department came days after the NYT had reported that hundreds of employees at entertainment giant Walt Disney were laid off and replaced with Indians holding H1-B visas.

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About 250 Disney employees were told in October 2014 that they would be laid off and many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on H1-B visas brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India, the report had said.

It had also cited the layoffs at the Southern California Edison power utility, saying that the layoffs are “raising new questions about how businesses and outsourcing companies are using the temporary visas, known as H-1B, to place immigrants in technology jobs in the United States.”