Maryland\u2019s Prince George\u2019s County Public Schools system violated the law when it reduced the wages of 1,044 foreign teachers hired under the H-1B program, concluded a recent U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Wage and Hour Division investigation.<\/p>\n
The school system had required the H-1B teachers to pay a total of $4,224,146 in fees, which reduced H-1B teacher wages below the required wage. The district must now return the money in back wages and will be fined $1.7 million in civil money penalties.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll employers, including school systems, are required to follow the law,\u201d said Nancy J. Leppink, acting administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, in a news release. \u201cThat includes the legal duty to pay every teacher hired the full wages he or she is owed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district may also be disallowed from filing new petitions for foreign workers, requesting extensions for current workers, or requesting permanent residency for any foreign workers currently employed.<\/p>\n