Salary, Leave of absence, etc.

[cannon576]

Last year i went to India for a month and half (apparent from passport entries) and didnt work for another month (not so apparent). I consider this as leave of absence, as i didnt get paid during this time. This also reduced my annual salary for 2002 by 20% than mentioned in LC. My recent pay stubs show equivalent pay though.

Questions
Is it legal to take leave of absence when you are on H1 and will this have any effect when you go for CP interview ?

I expect my interview to be in June and probably i need to carry my 2002 tax transcripts. Looking at my tax transcripts, W2 and my recent pay stubs it would be easy to see that it doesn't add up right. If i mention that i took leave of absence for my trip and other activities, Will this cause any problem during the interview? What if i file for extension to file taxes and submit only 2001 tax transcript, which is fine?

What kind of company financial information we need?

What kind of questions to expect during interview related to salary and company financial information.

Does it help having a US degree, visiting your home country once a year or so (so far have 3 different visas issued from US consulate). I just want to make sure everything is fine before i go for interview and dont want to get stuck in india with some 'administrative(!?) check'.
Thanks

 

[cannon576]

I found couple of articles on this issue; But the articles might be old and confusing. it says its ok if its personal or medical, but also says you might be violating H1 status.
please post the info you know regarding other questions posted earlier.
Thanks


[url]http://www.murthy.com/UDh1iii.html[/URL]
Benching Rule

If H1B employees are “benched” due to the employer’s business reasons (such as the lack of available work), then they must still be paid for the full hours specified on the H1B petition. If an employee is absent based on issues not work related, such as personal or health reasons, then the above provision does not apply.


[url]http://www.murthy.com/arc_uds/UDdolh1.html[/URL]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has also published proposed regulations on some of the other aspects of the H1 law under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA). Please note that these regulations are only proposed, rather than final regulations.

a. Benching

The regulation provides examples of breaks in employment which do not constitute benching. For instance, if the employee takes a leave of absence at his or her own request, then this is not benching and therefore the employer would not be required to pay the wage during this period.

Note that since these regulations are from DOL, which is mainly concerned with pay issues, they do not address the issue of the employees status. An H1 employee who takes a leave of absence and does not change to a non-working status, will generally be violating H1 status.


http://www.murthy.com/chat0709.html
Chat User : Is it possible that I can take a leave of absence after filling for CP from the sponsoring employer and join back after a month? Will I have a problem during CP?

Attorney Murthy : Should not be a problem if the reason for the leave is at the request of the foreign national and for a legitimate reason that the employer would offer other U.S. citizen or GC holder employees at the company. If so, then no problem, otherwise, it could be so.

http://www.cpaea.org/db/current/h1b/3061030288213.html
1. Can H1 holder be in leave of absence? Any limitation on how long the leave of absence can be?

Yes. The length depends on individual circumstances and company's usual practice.

2. When a H1 holder in leave of absence finds another job, can he do the H-1 transfer?
Yes
3. Can a H1 holder visit his home country for several weeks during his leave of absence?
Yes
4. Are the answers to any of above questions related to the reason for leave of absence?
Yes