Covid-19: Unemployment Benefits For Temporary Foreign Workers

Employers confronting business interruptions and shut-downs in the wake of the first COVID-19 wave face challenging workforce decisions about whether they need to lay-off or terminate workers. Employers having a workforce partially comprised of temporary foreign workers (i.e., workers holding work visas such as H-1B, L-1, E-1/2, E-3, TN, O-1, etc.) confront additional layers of complexity as their decisions may impact the employee's work status in the United States (U.S.), ability to collect unemployment insurance, and eligibility to benefit from new stimulus measures. While there is no "one size fits all" approach, below are a set of key considerations for employers to utilize in making these difficult human resources decisions in consultation with their legal advisors.