Layoffs for Visa Holders
One thing I don’t understand, instead of keeping visa holders around on payroll for 2 months (per the WARN act) and then paying them 1-3 more months of severance. Why not, keep visa holders on payroll for the full 3-5 months? If they find a new job, just transfer the visa just like you would during the 2 month WARN act period and payout the remainder as severance. Are there any drawbacks to doing this? Seeing visa holders getting laid off, I think this would go a long way. #tech
And also they cannot backfill the position untill the other person is out
I think they have to wait a certain amount of time before they can start a backfill for someone who’s laid off anyway.
Every company policy is different So far i worked in 5 teams across 3 diffrent companies, the position was created right after i left the teams
Legally you are not "employing" them. And companies are not for morality.
Being on payroll doesn’t trigger the grace period. And companies not being moral, one of the main ideas behind paying a fat severance is in fact good will between ex-employees and the company and most importantly, for reputation purposes, it’s not just for legal reasons. I’m not seeing why they can’t make a small change like this for visa holders, it would be a net win for reputation purposes.
Because uscis can read between the lines
Not a one time expense anymore. When companies layoff, the inform in share holder letter, that they had a one time expense and that one time expense is removed for ebidta, typically stock goes up. If they keep employees on payroll, the expense is not considered one time
They (most tech companies these days) already keep them on payroll for two months per the WARN act, technically that’s factored into the one time expense along with the actual severance. With this, you’d lengthen the payroll period for visa holders only and shorten the actual severance being paid, but it would come out the same.
Typically the 2 months payroll end at the end of quarter so that next quarter doesn't have layoff expenses. In a quarter, the warn act + severance is stated as expense.
Employers can’t make employment decisions that favor non-citizens over citizens.
They are not related. It is the same severance money, same benefits to both citizens and non citizens.
“Why not, keep visa holders on payroll for the full 3-5 months?” Because doing so is unlawful if they don’t do it for permanent workers.
They can save on benefits.
Most tech companies doing layoffs are giving health insurance stipends with the severance