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Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park: Do you prefer skilled workers with a visa for job placement?
Photo: JOSH EDELSON / AFP
The US Internet company Facebook is said to have paid a fine after it was accused of having discriminated against US applicants vis-à-vis foreigners when it came to job vacancies.
The US Department of Justice announced a corresponding comparison with the social network.
"Facebook is not above the law and must comply with our country's civil rights laws, which prohibit discriminatory recruitment and hiring practices," said Ministry representative Kristen Clarke.
The company has now agreed to a fine of $ 4.75 million.
A further up to $ 9.5 million should go to disadvantaged US applicants as compensation.
Items with an annual salary of more than $ 150,000
The US government sued Facebook last December, while ex-President Donald Trump was still in office.
The ministry accused the online platform of having reserved more than 2,600 vacancies for foreigners with temporary visas between January 2018 and September 2019, for whom the company wanted to enable permanent residence permits.
This discriminated against US citizens.
In a statement, Facebook affirmed that it would comply with applicable law.
However, the group agreed to the comparison in order to "move forward".
The agreement "will allow us to keep our focus on recruiting the best people from the US and around the world."
The company did not publish the positions in question on its website, only accepted printed applications - i.e. no online applications - and refused to consider US citizens for the positions. Instead, foreigners with the H-1B visa for highly qualified professionals were preferred. The positions were reportedly paid an average of around $ 156,000 a year.
Internet companies such as Facebook rely to a large extent on foreign specialists who can enter the country with a temporary H-1B visa, among other things.
Their maximum length of stay is six years.
For a permanent residence permit - the green card - foreigners need a permanent job offer.
The employer must prove that there were no suitable US applicants for the position.
apr / AFP