Good news for employees: Up to 30 percent increase in salaries is possible

WASHINGTON: An important news has come out for foreign workers wishing to go to the United States and for companies working there, where the US Department of Labor has proposed a significant increase in the minimum salaries of employees under the H-1B visa program.

According to this new proposal, the salaries of foreigners working in various sectors can be increased by about 30 percent compared to the previous limit.

The US administration claims that the aim of this measure is to protect the jobs of local American citizens so that the wages of American citizens do not decrease due to cheap foreign workers.

This new draft, presented by the Department of Labor on March 27, talks about increasing the salaries of workers at four different levels, including junior new employees to highly experienced professionals.

Officials say the current wage structure, set 20 years ago, no longer adequately protects the rights of American workers.

The proposed minimum annual salary for a junior foreign worker, which was previously $73,279, is proposed to be increased to $97,746, an increase of more than 33 percent. Similarly, the salary of experienced employees is proposed to be increased from $144,202 to $175,464.

The Department of Labor says that due to the current procedure, companies hire foreigners at much lower salaries than American citizens, but these new changes will also affect other visa programs in addition to H-1B.

The proposal is now open for public comment and people can submit their comments until May 26. A final decision will be made after reviewing the comments.

The proposal has drawn mixed reactions from employees and companies, with some experts calling it a positive step to protect American workers, while smaller companies are concerned that higher wages will make it harder for smaller companies to hire new and junior employees.

The move comes at a time when the US is seeing a surge in the number of foreign-skilled workers in technology and IT sectors, and rising wages could increase costs for companies.

It should be noted that in September last year, a presidential decree imposed a $100,000 fee for candidates outside the US to further streamline the visa program.