Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Hello,

I work in Britain for a British company which is a subsidiary of a US-based company.

I have been asked to travel to the US to attend some company events (mainly meetings and presentations).

Once I landed in the US, they sent me a schedule that included daily work hours in the US. Everyday, I was supposed to be on-shift as a primary workforce.

I responded that I don't have the right to work in the US. I wrote to the company that I have the right to travel to the US for meetings, training and such related business activity, I don't have the right to do actual work in the US.

They said that this is already scheduled and I have no choice.

What are my venues?

Thank you for your assistance

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Don't do the work. Still attend the meetings and presentations etc.

If you were caught working the 'my boss told me too' excuse would be about as a successful as it was Nuremberg...

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

I see what you mean.

I sent a long email explaining the situation to my management to cover myself. At least I can show that I tried to do something about it.

But bottom line, they made it clear that if I don't do the job, even illegally, I will be fired. I am not alone in this situation and my colleagues all faced the same issue and have been forced to work.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

All consequences rest with you not them.

One might have to consider if it is worth working for a company that treats their workforce like that. Also they can be reported anonymously to USCIS.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Choices:-

1) Do the work and not make a fuss

2) Refuse to do the work, get fired and report the company for breaches of immigration regulations.

I suspect a great many companies do exactly what yours does and in practical terms USCIS/CBP are not concerned unless it comes to their notice. Even then I wouldn't expect much, other than a slapped wrist, to happen to the company. You are responsible for making sure you have the correct visas.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Under the circumstances, I would tell the CBP officer at the airport when you arrive, EXACTLY what you will be doing, warts and all. If he let's you in, you're good to go, if he sends you straight back then your employer doesn't have much grounds to complain, nor I suspect any basis to fire you that would stand up to an employment tribunal.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Sounds to me like the OP is already in the USA right now, though.

Rene

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Ooops, you're right. :o

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

British company will surely fall under UK and EU rules? If they fire you for refusing to work you can take them to court for unfair dismissal.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If you don't do it, you might get fired. You can take them to an employment tribunal, and you will win either your job back or compensation. Can you afford all that?

You risk it - you either don't get caught, and keep your job (depending how much of a stink you make about it) or you get caught, still keep your job and you're banned from the USA.

If it was me in your position I would have to risk it for the sake of keeping my job. I would not be happy about this, and might start job hunting once I get back.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

I am in the US now.

In Europe, if you bring people across the border to make them work illegally, you commit a crime and these people are protected.

Apparently, in the US, it's the opposite. I lied to the immigration because I wasn't aware at that time that I was coming to the US to work.

I am going to swallow it. I don't see what I can do else. But on my return to Britain, I will resign from this company.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

If you're going to resign anyway, you could consider refusing to work, getting fired and then at least taking it through the courts. There is a chance they learn a lesson that way. Though I can really understand why you would choose not to.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Pulaskis idea was good, for anyone in a similar position entering the US.

You have documentation by the sounds of it, I'd try to get as much as possible, keep asking questions and build up the evidence.

If you plan on resigning anyway, I'd go for unfair dismissal rather than constructive dismissal.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

OP should not resign if he's pretty sure they'll fire him anyway, as it will be much easier for him to make an unfair dismissal claim then.

If they don't fire him, and he still wants to resign and claim constructive dismissal, he should get advice from the CAB or an employment lawyer before handing in his notice as it is now much harder to claim constructive dismissal in the UK than it once was. He'd need to open a grievance with the company and have that rejected first for instance.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

You're description of what you'll be doing in the USA in addition to "attending some company events" is highly superficial. I'm not entirely sure that you are in a difficult situation. Have you discussed this with a US immigration attorney here in the USA? An independent attorney of your own choosing, not one of your company's attorneys.

Regards, JEff

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Have you got that in writing?

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

For the record, you did NOT lie to immigration as you honestly believed that was what you were entering the US for.

How long are you here for? That would make a huge difference on how to react, IMO. If it's for a couple of weeks, then I would go for it and question the decision on my return. It also depends on what you're expected to do while you're on-shift. If it's more of an advisory capacity, there's probably no issue with it.

I would be keeping all my options open at this point until I had further information, but I do agree that it would be rash to hand in your resignation.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Don't resign. Let them fire you, then you can claim unfair dismissal. Otherwise, you're stuck trying to prove constructive dismissal if you resign when you return to the UK.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

You can't do the work.. They need to know this!

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

This is an area that has confused many people including me.

When I lived in Canada and was working there on a temporary work permit, my boss sent me to the US to install our computer system at client sites and do the on-site training - teaching users to use our software. So I was most definitely doing work in the US - but on behalf of my Canadian employer who was the one paying me. That's exactly what I told the US immigration officer I would be doing and he didn't bat an eyelid.

If you were being paid directly by the US employer, then you would definitely be doing wrong. I think as long as you are NOT being paid directly by the US employer, then this starts to move into a very grey area for a lot of people. I'm not saying it's right - I'm saying that you'll find that you get different answers because of confusion.

You didn't actually lie to US immigration. You believed that you were telling the truth. A lie is deliberately saying something that you KNOW not to be true at the time you say it. However, now you actually know something different.

I honestly don't know what I would do in this situation. It is definitely worrying that, after communicating your concerns, you were immediately threatened with being fired. That is not the sign of a healthy working relationship with your employer. If what they are doing is legal, then they should have been happy to have someone (e.g. an immigration lawyer) put your concerns to bed.

If you are going to resign anyway, then I definitely would not do the work. I would let them fire me and then they deal with the consequences in the courts.

If you want to keep this job (and I'm not seeing any reason why you would considering the aggressive response you got to raising valid concerns), then only you can decide what to do.

Re: Forced to Work Illegally in the US
 

Wow, I just read through this discussion. One thing not mentioned by the other posters is that when (not if) Immigration finds out about one of you not working according to the law (assuming that's indeed the case), they are likely to investigate, and then you'll all be in trouble. So it's more than just "should I keep my head down and not make waves". Waves might be made because of someone else's case no matter what you do in your own case.

My current and former managers are from outside the US, and they each spend about one week a month in my facility. I know that one came in and out until they were cautioned at the border that they might be required to get a visa soon, so they applied for the visa and traveled much less frequently until it was approved. I think the other has no work visa. The definition of "work" will vary by job description, but my current boss attends meetings, supervises the team, writes e-mail, and works on documentation and planning and support, that I know of for sure. I don't know whether or how much it matters that either of them also travel to other countries for business meetings and training other staff. When I traveled to the UK, there were laminated posters everywhere in the facilities I visited cautioning overseas workers that they needed to have the proper visa (which I had; come to think of it, it expires today). But I haven't seen any similar postings here in our US corporate office.

MarylandNed, it doesn't sound like you were doing anything to fall afoul of the law anyway, as installing and training users to use the newly installed computer systems is perfectly acceptable, as it happens. But if you were to stay and do some other sort of work (participating in a documentation project, for example), then questions might legitimately have been raised.