大家来到美国，求学、工作、生活。除了最关心的移民身份问题之外，就是如何在美国职场能稳定发展。但是，人在职场，有时身不由己，尤其是遇到对待员工苛刻甚至恶劣的雇主。很多初入美国职场的第一代移民是H-1B的身份。有些雇主则会利用员工H-1B身份对员工进行剥削。这种剥削可能包括了歧视、报复、性骚扰、拒发工资，或要求员工赔偿H-1B费用等等。
今天我们向大家介绍一些职场中可以用来保护自己的法律，包括：反歧视、禁止雇主报复、禁止性骚扰、最低工资要求、和禁止雇主要求H-1B员工赔偿H-1B费用的相关法律。文章的最后，我也为大家提供了一些简单的例子，帮助大家理解这些法律。
1. 反歧视
It is illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
2. 禁止雇主报复
Retaliation occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in legally protected activity. Retaliation can include any negative job action, such as demotion, discipline, firing, salary reduction, or job or shift reassignment. But retaliation can also be more subtle. Retaliation is prohibited. For example, it is unlawful to retaliate against applicants or employees for:
filing or being a witness in an EEO charge, complaint, investigation, or lawsuit
communicating with a supervisor or manager about employment discrimination, including harassment
refusing to follow orders that would result in discrimination
asking managers or co-workers about salary information to uncover potentially discriminatory wages.
3. 禁止性骚扰
It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex.
4. 最低工资要求
The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.
5. 禁止雇主要求H-1B员工赔偿H-1B费用
An H-1B worker can never be required to pay the following:
A penalty for the worker’s failure to complete the full employment period;
Any part of the statutory training and processing fee imposed by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS);
Any part of the statutory $500 fraud protection and detection fee imposed by USCIS; and/or
Any deduction for the employer’s business expenses that would reduce an H-1B worker’s pay below the required wage rate.
6. 以下是一些帮助大家理解上述法律的例子
雇主禁止中国雇员在公司私下说中文 —— 雇主涉嫌歧视中国雇员
雇主要求，如果H-1B雇员两年内离职，则雇员必须赔偿雇主H-1B申请费用 —— 雇主涉嫌非法要求H-1B雇员赔偿H-1B费用
雇主拒绝给雇员发工资 —— 雇主涉嫌违反最低工资要求
雇员向雇主抗议并争取自己的合法权益，雇主因为雇员的抗议而裁掉员工 —— 雇主涉嫌报复
如果您在职场中遭遇了非法的对待，我们建议您找一位雇佣法律师咨询，以保护自己的权益。用法律的方式对抗不义的事，不仅仅是保护自己，也可以让这种悲剧不再继续发生在其他人身上。
作者简介：王戈 Elva Wang，美国德克萨斯州执业律师。Elva出生长大于中国北京。从北京师范大学附属中学毕业后，Elva赴波士顿大学留学。在获得经济学学士学位后，Elva在休斯顿大学法学中心攻读并取得法律博士学位。Elva曾在全球最大律师事务所大成律师事务所和美国政府机构Texas Medical Board实习。
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