Nearly 500 employees of the IT giant were hired in its California facility on B-1 visas sponsored by the company, instead of H-1B visas. Legal action against the company was initiated after a former employee filed a complaint against Infosys in 2017.
Infosys has agreed to pay $800,000 as a settlement to resolve the allegations that between 2006 and 2017, 500 employees were working in California on company-sponsored B-1 visas, said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
“Infosys brought in workers on the wrong visas in order to underpay them and avoid paying taxes. With this settlement, California has been made whole", reports quoted Attorney General Becerra as saying on Wednesday.
A B-1 visa is for travellers consulting with business associates and attending professional conventions. The H-1B visa allows employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
In the settlement, however, Infosys denied the allegations and asserted no wrongdoing. The Indian IT major has over 228,123 workers across its facilities around the globe.
This is not the first time Infosys has landed in hot water over unethical business practices.
Earlier in November, some unidentified Infosys employees accused Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of resorting to questionable practices for boosting the company's short-term revenues.
Launched back in 1981, the company is headquartered in Southern India's Bengaluru, which is also known as the Silicon Valley of the country.
