Report accuses tech giant HCL of underpaying thousands of immigrant workers

CARY – HCL Technologies, which has a big presence in the Triangle, is accused in a new report of “widespread theft” from “thousands” of employees who work at the India-based tech services firm through the federal H-1B visa program.

Contacted by WRAL TechWire, HCL denied any wrongdoing.

“HCL Technologies is strictly compliant with all relevant rules and regulations and is committed to pay wages to all employees in accordance with applicable laws,” a spokesperson said via email.

H-1Bs “allows companies and other employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Competes compete annually to secure H-1B visas. US workers have complained for years that the H-1B program denies qualified Americans jobs while also driving down wages.

“The H-1B statute requires that employers pay their H-1B workers no less than the actual wage paid to their similarly employed U.S. workers, a key protection for both migrant and U.S. workers,” EPI said ina statement about the report. “But EPI analysis of an internal HCL document … shows that large-scale illegal underpayment of H-1B workers is a core part of the firm’s competitive strategy. In almost every HCL job role, records show H-1B workers are paid less than U.S. workers.”

Image of table in internal HCL Technologies document comparing wages paid to U.S. citizens (and permanent residents) with wages paid to Landed (India-hired) H-1B visa holders, by primary skill used in job Note: Annotations and arrows added by authors. List of abbreviations: “JAVA OS” is Java Operating System, “SAP” is the name of a common and widely used enterprise resource planning software, “ARC” is additional resource cost, and “HC” is head count. The authors cannot be certain of which skills or programs “TT” and “BAS” represent. Adapted from HCL, “Guidelines for H1 Nominations,” Exhibit 57. Case 3:19-cv-01185-MPS Document 48-57, filed September 7, 2021, at page 11. From United States of America, ex rel. Ralph Billington, Michael Aceves, and Sharon Dorman (Plaintiffs) v. HCL Technologies LTD. and HCL America, INC. (Defendants). Fourth Amended Complaint for Violations of the False Claims Act. United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Civil Action No. 3:19-CV-1185 (MPS).

According to the Economic Policy Institute, HCL Technologies “appear to have been underpaid by at least $95 million.” Its analysis is based on a review of an internal HCL document that came to light as part of a “whistleblower lawsuit” against the firm, EPI added.

The suit was filed by Ralph Billington, Michael Aceves and Sharon Dorman in September.

“This action concerns HCL’s egregious and widespread fraud against the United States in applying for and securing work visas. HCL engages in visa fraud so that it can import and employ cheap labor (primarily from India) in the U.S. and avoid having to employ higher-priced Americans,” the lawsuit says.

HCL clients include Disney, FedEx and Google, EPI noted. The firm has thousands of employees across the U.S. and earlier this week said it would add as many as 6,000 more over the next several years.

Some 497,000 H-1B visas were awarded in fiscal year 2021, according to data analyzed by Bloomberg news. That total is down 9% from 2020 and 17% from 2019, news site livemint reported, citing the Bloomberg data.

“Migrant workers on H-1B visas are being systematically cheated out of wages that by law they should rightfully be paid. HCL’s actions are tantamount to U.S. immigration policy being used to subsidize the outsourcing and offshoring of decent, high-paying U.S. jobs,” said Ron Hira, who is an EPI research associate and associate professor at Howard University. “The victims include not only the H-1B workers themselves but also the U.S. workers who are either displaced or whose wages and working conditions degrade when employers are allowed to underpay skilled migrant workers with impunity.”

Hira is co-author of the report.

HCL has some 1,500 employees in the Triangle, according to the Book of Lists from the Triangle Business Journal.

“Our findings show how tech firms ignore the law and systematically rob migrant workers. This apparent blatant lawbreaking by one of the leading H-1B outsourcing companies should finally prompt action by the federal government to curb abuses of the H-1B program so that it can operate fairly for both migrant workers and U.S. workers,” said Daniel Costa, EPI director of immigration law and policy research and co-author of the report.