Recent Publications
After Immigration: Foreign Employees to the United States
David
A.
Skidmore, Jr.
I have noticed in the last ten years or so how many more foreign citizens are working here in the Greater Cincinnati area. Obviously, the crucial first step is to handle the immigration issues so that the foreign national may work in this country legally. While getting the employee approved to work in the United States is often the biggest hurdle to overcome, there are many other employment considerations and preventative measures an employer should take once the foreign employee arrives in the United States.
One of the most important things an employer should do is to provide discrimination and harassment training for foreign employees, especially for those who will have managerial positions. While most industrialized countries have some form of discrimination laws, the harassment laws in the United States, in particular, are generally much more protective of the employee. Male managers from some countries may believe that their conduct toward female subordinates are perfectly acceptable based upon the culture of their home country. The problem is that, in this country, a court would call it sexual harassment.
Foreign companies, in particular, have had huge hits in American employment. Mitsubishi had to fork over $33 million in a class action sexual harassment case. Astra Pharmaceutical from Sweden had to pay $9.9 million to settle suit alleging that senior executives were fondling female employees and inviting them to their hotel rooms.
A foreign employee may also be unfamiliar with the typical working hours expected here in the United States. Many foreign countries regulate the number of hours an employee can work in a week or a day, even for managers. Some countries prohibit work on certain days. However, a U.S. employer is likely to have different expectations and policies. Thus, communicating work expectations to foreign employees is especially important in the beginning.
Furthermore, unlike the U.S., many foreign