In addition to the requirements described in the main text, there are three other requirements levied on all employers of H-1B visa holders:

• If an H-1B nonimmigrant is dismissed before the end of the period of authorized stay, the employer is liable for the reasonable costs of the beneficiary's return transportation “abroad,” i.e., to the beneficiary's last place of foreign residence. Any dismissal is covered, including one for cause. The exception is that when the beneficiary voluntarily terminates employment; the individual is then responsible for his or her own return travel costs.

• An H-1B employer cannot impose a financial penalty on an H-1B employee who chooses to leave his or her position prior to an agreed date. This provision is designed to ensure that employees are free to terminate their employment if they so choose. (Employers found guilty of imposing such a penalty are subject to a $1,000 fine.)

• However, employers are permitted to collect liquidated damages under state law provisions that permit the parties to agree by contract for the payment of liquidated damages in the event one party breaches, but only if the H-1B employer and the H-1B worker are parties to a contract authorizing same.

• Employers cannot fail to pay an H-1B worker who is in nonproductive status due to the lack of work or the lack of a permit or license for the alien. This “nobenching” provision was intended to discourage the hiring of foreign professionals for speculative employment by requiring the continued payment of wages and benefits even when the work does not materialize and the employee remains available for work.

Further, additional requirements are placed on “H-1B-dependent” employers:¹ These requirements—adopted in 1998 in the ACWIA—include:²