GC Agreement with employer

G

gcblackmail

Registered Users (C)
Hi -
With recent developments in Priority Dates Retrogression, I have given up hope. I have signed a GC agreement with my employer in which it states that I have to pay unconditionally $20,000 if leave the company before my 485 is approved. My employer’s role is only to process my pay check and sponsor my GC. Now I have decided to leave USA for good and my employer says that I'm violating the GC agreement and I have to Pay him $20,000. My employer pays me for hours worked 8 weeks ago. This means that 8 weeks pay is held up with my employer. He is using the 8 week pay as collateral.
I'm trying to find out what my rights are.
Do I take him to Labor Court or Immigration court?
Which type of lawyer can handle my case?
I have emails from my employer which support my argument. Will emails be an evidence to prove my employer exploitation?

Your advice will help me in teaching desi employers a good lesson.


:mad:
 
Isn't such agreement illegal? There is a recent case deciding the agreement between employer and employee regarding returning H1B petition cost is a penalty instead of liquidated damage clause thus illegal, and deducting cost from salary is definitely not allowed.
But how about GC petition? The employer of my friend's company also asked him to sign such an agreement before filing PERM for him. So he is thinking of filing complaint against his employer now.
 
Kick that sick

Just tell that Sick, you are going to SUE him... It does not work for him.. Hire a good immigration lawyer like Rajiv.. or some one who can help you... BTW send a legal notice thats it he will be listen to you properly...
 
I would tend to say it's not legal to do that. One more thing with these guys is you need to be confident (i am not saying you are not...please don't get me wrong). But i have seen many cases where the jerks would try to bully the employee. However, if the employee is not so easily bullied, it helps a lot.

I would say, keep backup copies of the emails, just in case. Would not hurt to take print outs too and file it away safely maybe...

Best of luck.
 
When you say it is not legal...do you have any precedence or statute provision in mind?
Bully or not is a moral issue, not a legal one as in this case. Don't assume every employer is a reasonable prudent person who is willing to discuss with employee on equal foot.
 
Instead of wasting time on forum just spend $100 and get a good lawyer in your city and ask him about your line of action. Its that simple, if you are sick you do not ask for medicine from people around you rather you see doctor.
my 2 cents....
 
Taking as long as 8 weeks to pay you for the work done may also be illegal.

When you talk to your lawyer, mention that and any other questionable practices of the employer. With enough legal ammunition against them, they may end up paying YOU $20,000 to stay out of court and avoid hefty fines from the DOL and USCIS.
 
gcblackmail said:
Hi -
With recent developments in Priority Dates Retrogression, I have given up hope. I have signed a GC agreement with my employer in which it states that I have to pay unconditionally $20,000 if leave the company before my 485 is approved. My employer’s role is only to process my pay check and sponsor my GC. Now I have decided to leave USA for good and my employer says that I'm violating the GC agreement and I have to Pay him $20,000. My employer pays me for hours worked 8 weeks ago. This means that 8 weeks pay is held up with my employer. He is using the 8 week pay as collateral.
I'm trying to find out what my rights are.
Do I take him to Labor Court or Immigration court?
Which type of lawyer can handle my case?
I have emails from my employer which support my argument. Will emails be an evidence to prove my employer exploitation?

Your advice will help me in teaching desi employers a good lesson.


:mad:
Click to expand...
You have to treat this as 2 different cases. DO not put together and talk.

1) You work for your employer the last 8 weeks. You deserve to get pay. So, THEY HAVE TO PAY YOU. THEY ARE NOT ALLOW TO KEEP YOUR MONEY. You can SUE them for that (This is labor law). They will have to pay more than the 8 week of your salary :)

2) You sign agreement with them about 20K damage. And you break that. They could SUE you to court (small claim court or so) to get that money back. It is depended on the court decision that you should pay all , potion or none of that money. Of course, if you leave the country before court date or not pay the amount the court order, they can put police record on you and you will get arrest whenever you plan to go back to this country again in the future :)

Hope this help.
 
newbies said:
You have to treat this as 2 different cases. DO not put together and talk.

1) You work for your employer the last 8 weeks. You deserve to get pay. So, THEY HAVE TO PAY YOU. THEY ARE NOT ALLOW TO KEEP YOUR MONEY. You can SUE them for that (This is labor law). They will have to pay more than the 8 week of your salary :)

2) You sign agreement with them about 20K damage. And you break that. They could SUE you to court (small claim court or so) to get that money back. It is depended on the court decision that you should pay all , potion or none of that money. Of course, if you leave the country before court date or not pay the amount the court order, they can put police record on you and you will get arrest whenever you plan to go back to this country again in the future :)

Hope this help.
Click to expand...

Y'r 1st point is correct. But I am doubtful about y'r second assumption. This is not a criminal investigation to get arrested. They can send the court notice to the employee, but if the employee doesn't sign the summons, the court can do jack. As long as you can avoid taking summons, you are pretty fine.

I already gone through this ordeal. I am telling you from experience. But it is always a good idea to talk to a competent lawyer.

Just don't scare him.
 
What king of lawyer I should approach...The contract says that it can only be challeged in State of New Jersey. Maybe I should look for a lawyer in NJ.
 
gcno said:
Y'r 1st point is correct. But I am doubtful about y'r second assumption. This is not a criminal investigation to get arrested. They can send the court notice to the employee, but if the employee doesn't sign the summons, the court can do jack. As long as you can avoid taking summons, you are pretty fine.

I already gone through this ordeal. I am telling you from experience. But it is always a good idea to talk to a competent lawyer.

Just don't scare him.
Click to expand...

You just assume that the court does not do anything if you don't come to court order :) Do not play with the law.

And of course, it is depend on the employer. How far he wants to go ? If he continues follow the case after the first few court orders that you try to avoid. They could push to higher level and it will involve the police to force you to court. But, some employers just follow the one or 2 times to scare you. Some might do it serious. In the serious case, you might have to pay a ton (the money you own and all lawyer cost)

The best case is try to work it out outside the court room. Or hope god will be with you.
 
newbies said:
You just assume that the court does not do anything if you don't come to court order :) Do not play with the law.

And of course, it is depend on the employer. How far he wants to go ? If he continues follow the case after the first few court orders that you try to avoid. They could push to higher level and it will involve the police to force you to court. But, some employers just follow the one or 2 times to scare you. Some might do it serious. In the serious case, you might have to pay a ton (the money you own and all lawyer cost)

The best case is try to work it out outside the court room. Or hope god will be with you.
Click to expand...

The court litigation is too expensive especially for an employer(My employer hired an attorney for $300 an hour). As you said it depends on the employer how far he can go. Unless there is some kind of personal animosity. Its ain't worth it. I personally feel the employers use scare tactics. That's all. It's not a good idea to be part of litigation.

The best thing is to resolve it. One thing you should remember, it's very long drawn. If you file the case now, it will take an year.
 
gcblackmail said:
What king of lawyer I should approach...The contract says that it can only be challeged in State of New Jersey. Maybe I should look for a lawyer in NJ.
Click to expand...

My company was based in New Jersey. So I filed a lawsuit in NJ, even though I was working a different state. If you are interested I can give you contact. Let me know.
 
Silverfish said:
When you say it is not legal...do you have any precedence or statute provision in mind?
Bully or not is a moral issue, not a legal one as in this case. Don't assume every employer is a reasonable prudent person who is willing to discuss with employee on equal foot.
Click to expand...


"Don't assume every employer...." ????????

Assume??? You are reading stuff that was never on my post. I never wrote anything pertaining to "assuming every employer is a reasonable prudent person blah blah...". But yes, i have seen couple of cases where an employer (and NO, i am not talking about EVERY employer in the US) would try to intimidate an employee into accepting something. All i said is it helps sometimes if the employee is not easily ruffled.

If you read my post, you would notice I NEVER SAID it was not legal. I said I tend to think it's not legal. Which would imply it to be my personal opinion. And based on the question asked, offered a couple of suggestions which may or may not be useful.

This world would be a much better place if we stopped picking holes in what other's say/write for absolutely no reason.
 
scare tactic of the m***** f****** employer.

gcblackmail said:
Hi -
With recent developments in Priority Dates Retrogression, I have given up hope. I have signed a GC agreement with my employer in which it states that I have to pay unconditionally $20,000 if leave the company before my 485 is approved. My employer’s role is only to process my pay check and sponsor my GC. Now I have decided to leave USA for good and my employer says that I'm violating the GC agreement and I have to Pay him $20,000. My employer pays me for hours worked 8 weeks ago. This means that 8 weeks pay is held up with my employer. He is using the 8 week pay as collateral.
I'm trying to find out what my rights are.
Do I take him to Labor Court or Immigration court?
Which type of lawyer can handle my case?
I have emails from my employer which support my argument. Will emails be an evidence to prove my employer exploitation?

Your advice will help me in teaching desi employers a good lesson.


:mad:
Click to expand...

Hey gcblackmail,

I am sorry for the situation you are in. Your situation makes my blood boils. Desi companies treat Desis like this.

Few ideas that willl cost you just a phone call.

1. Call Clark Howard between 1.00 PM to 3.30 PM (EST). It is a radio talk show and he give advise on the radio to people like you. He is pretty helpful.
Call him 404-892-8227. http://clarkhoward.com/inside/ask_team_clark.html

2. Go to this site and find out if this can help http://www.handleonthelaw.com/RadioQuestions.aspx

3. Read your contract. Does it say that it will withheld 8 weeks of salary to compensate 20K penalty. If not, then collect the proof that they haven't pay you for last 8weeks. (Boy... you earn 20K in 8weeks, thats pretty good).

4. After you are sure that you are ready to leave the company, just let the f** CEO, f** CFO or whoever is running the company, that you will be making this contract public and publish the company name to public that they are doing this type of practice. You know, just so that they know that you are not spineless and they have more on stake than just 20K.

5. Bring it to somebodies notice anyway (proper govt authority. DOL is the best) so that tomorrow another Desi doesn't have to walk in your shoe.

Please don't do anything in hurry. That may put you in more trouble.
And.. most important, please don't threat anybody in anyway that might sound like you are planning to hurt them.. with email or in words..no matter how mad you are.

Hope everything turns out well for you. Best of luck.

Desclaimer : I am not a lawyer. These are my opinion. Please validate my 2cnts before you act.
 
krik said:
"Don't assume every employer...." ????????

Assume??? You are reading stuff that was never on my post. I never wrote anything pertaining to "assuming every employer is a reasonable prudent person blah blah...". But yes, i have seen couple of cases where an employer (and NO, i am not talking about EVERY employer in the US) would try to intimidate an employee into accepting something. All i said is it helps sometimes if the employee is not easily ruffled.

If you read my post, you would notice I NEVER SAID it was not legal. I said I tend to think it's not legal. Which would imply it to be my personal opinion. And based on the question asked, offered a couple of suggestions which may or may not be useful.

This world would be a much better place if we stopped picking holes in what other's say/write for absolutely no reason.
Click to expand...

Oh Krik, calm down. I am not picking holes in what you said and if I made you feel like that way, I'm sorry.
Actually I am just mad at those bloody employers. The legal department of my company required me to sign a contract to "repay up to $10K as the expense of applying GC" in case of I "leave the company before or within two years of approval of GC". I believe this is a type of exploitation so firmly denied to sign this contract. And now, I am thinking whether I can do something to make them regret for the ill treatment.
 
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Silverfish said:
Actually I am just mad at those bloody employers. The legal department of my company required me to sign a contract to "repay up to $10K as the expense of applying GC" in case of I "leave the company before or within two years of approval of GC". I believe this is a type of exploitation so firmly denied to sign this contract. And now, I am thinking whether I can do something to make them regret for the ill treatment.
Click to expand...

What I feel is If a contract is signed under duress will be thrown out in the court. Judges will be always lenient towards employees. One can still getaway even after signing the contract, provided if one can prove employers harassment. It's always a good idea to document everything from day one. Just an opinion
 
Hello GCBlackmail,

Let us know what you did and what can others do.. Many of us are in the same situation....

My wife was working for a company and she was not getting paid.. and so she left the job .. with the company still owing her money.. She didn't have a choice as the owner says he didn't have money. We complained to DOL and USCIS and there is no response from them.

Many times we think of going to court and complaining would help us but most of the time it doesn't and nothing happens...

Good Luck!
 
Sued

Good thing you sued him.. he will come to you... this happened to me with my Previous employer... he did't applied for my GC for more than 3 years. He kind of soaked it for 3years... Once I was in critical project, If I leave the project is gone.. I gave him 3 days notice... He kind of scared me with calls and Court Notices for loosing the project... Then in reverse I sued him, he gave me back all the salary and Attorney costs and for 3 years for cheating he ended up paying me huge amount... Dont get down during this time you should be very strong...
 
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