Working in the United States

A federal wage floor that hasn't moved since 2009, employment you can lose without cause, and — for most visa holders — a job that is legally tied to the employer who sponsored you.

Minimum wage: one federal number, fifty realities

The federal minimum wage has been $7.25/hour since July 2009 — the longest stretch without an increase since the wage floor was created. In practice, this number is close to irrelevant in most cities, because states, and often individual cities, set their own higher minimums that override it wherever they’re higher. Roughly 30 states plus D.C. now exceed the federal floor, some dramatically.

Always check the specific state and city where you’ll live and work — the gap between the federal number and a place like Seattle or New York City is nearly threefold, and it materially changes what an entry-level job actually pays.

At-will employment

This is one of the sharpest cultural differences for newcomers: in the U.S., most employment is “at-will,” meaning either the employer or the employee can end the relationship at any time, for almost any reason (or no reason), with no notice period and no severance required by law, as long as the reason isn’t illegal discrimination or retaliation. Compared to countries with mandated notice periods, severance formulas, or works councils, this is a real shift — there’s no default entitlement to warning, cause, or a payout when a role ends. Employment contracts, union agreements, or specific state/city laws (a small but growing number require notice for mass layoffs, like the federal WARN Act at 100+ employee firms) provide some of the only exceptions.

Visas are tied to the employer

Most U.S. work visas — H-1B, L-1, O-1 — authorize you to work only for the specific petitioning employer. Lose that job and you don’t automatically lose status immediately: H-1B holders currently get a 60-day grace period (or until the end of authorized status, whichever is shorter) to find a new sponsoring employer who files a new or transferred petition, change status, or leave the country. But that clock is real and short, which means a layoff on a work visa is simultaneously a job search and an immigration deadline — something citizens and green card holders never have to think about.

Unemployment insurance

Unemployment benefits are administered at the state level, funded by employer payroll taxes, and vary widely in amount, duration (commonly 12–26 weeks) and eligibility rules — there is no single national program or amount. Crucially, most visa holders whose status is tied to a specific employer are not eligible for unemployment benefits even though their employer paid into the system, since drawing benefits generally requires being authorized to seek any work, not just work for the sponsor who let you go.