Work & Travel j-1 students

[dtiao7eb]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

Hey guys/gals.

I'm asking a few questions on behalf a few of the students that work around williamsburg virginia.

They are having some trouble with their employers. Mainly the manager clocks them in and out. They have found out that the manager clocks them out @8:00 pm but they work until about 10pm. (i know this is illegal.) They wanted to request their time cards, but the manager refuses to give it to them. Can they call the police and ask for the time cards? The also sent a letter to ask for help from their program directors that obtain the j-1 visa for them. However, they received a letter back saying "your visa is not cancelled, but we have canceled your program." Can they just cancel the program just like that?

Thanks for the help!

 

[pattytx]

The police will not help them. This is a civil matter, not a criminal one. Plus, time records belong to the employer, not the employee, and the employer has no legal obligation to provide copies to any private party without a subpoena.

Now, if they have not been paid for all time worked, they can file a claim with the state Dept. of Labor.
http://www.doli.virginia.gov/laborlaw/laborlaw_forms_p1.html

They who? The program director? If there are no funds for the program, and that wouldn't be unusual in this economy, certainly the program can be cancelled.

 

[dtiao7eb]

the students have to pay $3000 usd for visa airfare and program charges...

wow so the employer can just deny them their time card legally? i didn't know that!

 

[pattytx]

Boy, then the program thing is beyond my area of expertise. How are they going to get home?

Is this one of those seasonals deals where companies bring in students from other countries and make them pay for the "privilege" of working? A lot of these are scams.

They don't have to have the actual time cards to file a claim; they just need to make their best estimate of the time not paid.

 

[dtiao7eb]

Yes these students are from China. Their contract was promising them 35 hours a week. but they only really get like 10 hours a week. they work from 10-10 but their manager clocks them out at 8 pm... they have flights home...but at the end of the summer. and to change the flight it costs like $100 to change. yeah it seems like they're f'd. but how fast of a response time is the DoL? i gonna guess not so fast? lol

thanks again

 

[dtiao7eb]

oh also, its not just one student... its about 100 students in williamsburg that are currently facing problems like this... if they all submit DoL complaints i hope these two companies get a whooping for dishonestly treating these students...

 

[pattytx]

Hard to say how long it will take. Depends on the backlog.

These people make me . Especially since (and I know this isn't the students' fault) the unemployment rate in the U.S. is nearly 10%.