If your company employs foreign nationals (many IT departments do), send this article to your CIO and your head of HR.

Companies that lay off H-1B work visa holders need to follow a couple of important steps; failing to adhere to these rules could reverse the termination and require the company to continue paying wages and benefits to the H-1B visa holder until the matter is resolved through the Department of Labor.

Maryanne Kline, an associate in the Immigration Group of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, reports that two steps must be followed when terminating H-1B visa holders. First, she notes that companies need to notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the employee’s termination and should withdraw the Labor Condition Application (LCA) – a document that is certified by the U.S. Department of Labor as a prerequisite to filing the H-1B petition.

Second, the company must “pay a reasonable cost for transportation to return the employee to his or her last country of residence” (an obligation that applies only if the terminated employee actually leaves the United States).

“It is a good practice to include information about how this will be handled in the H-1B employee’s separation package,” Kline writes. “This allows the employer to establish a uniform mechanism for complying with the requirement and also documents that the offer was made in the event that the employee does not leave the United States upon termination.” ###