legal validity of email as contractual on H1B employee

J

janet2janet

Registered Users (C)
Hi!
i have heard about this site from my friends. i have been working on an H1b visa with a company for the past 7 months. before i signed my agreement and started my H1B processing with them, the company sent me an email which stated that i would have to work with them for 5 years! and if i decide to leave them then i would have to bear all the costs the company spent on hiring me. the agreement that i had signed with the company talks only about the salary and benefits. it does not mention about any time frame or any binding contract. Please let me know
1. Is there any minimum timeframe until which i have to be with my company( this is my first job on H1B visa)even if I have a good offer from some other company.
2. Can the company claim that I am bound to work with them for 5 years just on the basis of an email.
3. What are the costs that the company can rightfully ask me to pay back and whether they can deduct it from my salary withou my permssion or may be drag me to court.
any reply will be highly appreciated.
thanks,
janet
 
Any contract between you and your company

that violates US labor laws might not stand in court. At the same time as a non resident you do not automatically enjoy all the rights of that of a US citizen. Given these two statements answers to your Qs are
1.No minimum timeframe. But INS looks with suspicion of change of status cases done before 3 months(high) and 6 months(still under the radar). So the thumb rule is 6 months.
2. Did you accept the email. i.e. reply to it saying that you agree? Contract has to be agreed by both parties. Was this contract you speak of submitted along with h1 application, at the time of stamping? Did the email referred to the signed contract and said that the email replaced the original contract?
3. Anything specified in the contract.
 
thanks for ur reply, further clarification

Hi Jaxen!

I appreciate ur reply. during the course of discussions with my company for the position, i sent an email to my company where i asked them about several things including the place where i would have to work at, boarding and lodging, job description, and whether i would have to sign a contract, if any. in reply, my company told me that it would be their policy that i work for them for 5 years. in case, i decide to terminate the agreement, i would have to bear the expenses the company spent on hiring me and this would be directly related to the portion of 5 years i have worked for them.
    thereafter, we have had discussions for another two weeks. then the company sent me the written agreement which i signed. the written agreement mentioned nothing about any kind of timeperiod. all it mentioned was the position, the salary and the benefits. nothing else. i signed it and mailed it to them. thereafter, they signed it.
please let me know whether they can claim both lawyer and visa fees.
can they deduct it from my salary without my permission.
thanks,
have a good one!
janet
 
Seems like

they cannot have email as a binding contract. Make sure you have the final contract copy (signed by both) with you.
However they can (and most probably might) deduct things from your salary. So be prepared for the final month salary to be Nil. You can pursue them later thru a lawyer.
 
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