There is more to this story...
This event took place while the head office was moving from its old headquarters in Foster City to the new HQ in Fremont. Hundreds of US contractors were involved as well as most of the IT staff in the remainder of the US. Since much of the helpdesk is run by the company office in Bangalore, eight team members were brought in from this office to help. These team members were paid their regular salary, all travel expenses, a per-diem as required by Indian law for the USA, and once the project was complete, a very healthy bonus. This additional reimbursement is not considered as income by the law and is not reflected in the media. The time before, during and for about a month after the move was not hectic... it was nuts. I am not surprised HR missed this. It was open wallet time and things were done because they had to be done. Sort the details later.
The law in the USA states anybody working here must be paid at least minimum wage. I suggest you Europeans get off your high horse - because there are no such protections in the EU. For many years I worked in a German subsidiary in eastern Europe. My people were regularly sent to the UK, Italy, Germany to assist on projects. Both before and after entering the EU. These staff only received their salary, per-diem and reimbursed travel expenses. No bonuses, etc. They were, and some still are paid significantly less than minimum wage in the western european countries where they are working.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
