Maka Hutson Quoted in Media on New Labor Department H-1B Pay Rule
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Akin Gump international trade counsel Maka Hutson has been quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle in “Trump administration moves ahead with H-1B pay rule over Silicon Valley’s objections.” The article reports on a final rule announced by the Department of Labor that would increase the minimum pay for foreign workers on high-skill H-1B visas. It follows federal law suits that stopped a previous version from taking immediate effect late last year.
According to the Chronicle, critics of high-skill visa programs have long described H-1Bs and other work-based visas as a means for undercutting U.S. workers with cheaper foreign labor. Supporters of the program, meanwhile, contend that the changes are designed to flout immigration laws and put foreigners who might work for U.S. companies at an unfair disadvantage.
The article says the incoming Biden administration has said it plans to halt so-called “midnight regulations” pushed through by President Trump in the waning days of his administration.
Once in office, Hutson said the new Biden administration could then issue its own rule, go through Congress to rescind the wage changes, or go through the courts if it chooses to head off the new rules.
In the SHRM article “The DOL Increases H-1B Wage Minimums, Again,” Hutson added, “I doubt that the rule will go into effect without further modifications. The Biden administration is likely to delay the effective date of the rule, and ongoing litigation will continue because the plaintiffs are likely to amend their complaints and challenge the reasoning behind it. This will likely force the administration to either modify it or withdraw it altogether.”
Hutson was a co-author last month of an Akin Gump client alert looking at a federal court ruling invalidating the Trump administration’s interim final rules on H-1B visas and prevailing wage levels. (To read more, please click here.)
