Morrow company to give $78,000 in back pay to foreign teachers

By Tammy Joyner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Morrow company will pay nearly $78,000 in back pay to 22 foreign teachers after a federal Labor Department investigation found the company violated visa laws.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Global Teachers Research and Resources Inc. violated H-1B visa rules governing employment of nonimmigrant temporary workers.  Global Teachers provides teachers to school districts in Georgia, Florida, New Mexico and South Carolina. They teach math, science, special education and Spanish and come from such places as Australia, South Africa, India and Colombia.

A Wage and Hour Division investigation found the company failed to keep records of hours worked by employees, and didn't pay workers for time spent in employer-provided training or time spent in pre-employment activities following their arrival in the United States.

The investigation covered up to 2010, but the violation stems from a 2008 incident, company President Paddy Sharma said Thursday. Although school didn't start until August, the federal government told the company it was required to pay the teachers for the months of June and July of that year.

Sharma, who founded the company 10 years ago, noted that the company paid the teachers' board, lodging, transportation and other expenses during those two months. She also said her company, in general, pays teachers more than what's required under H-1B guidelines.

The H-1B program is available to employers wanting to hire nonimmigrants as workers in specialty jobs that require highly specialized knowledge and attainment of at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent. The program is supposed to help companies that can't find American workers with the same skills by letting them temporarily hire qualified workers from abroad.