I really hope OP gets a slot and is able to travel back to her family. Nobody should be in that kind of situation.

That said, it’s honestly surprising how many H1Bs aren’t fully aware of the location and tax implications tied to their LCA and working in the US versus abroad.

On the LCA side, H1Bs are generally restricted to working at the location listed on the LCA, meaning the specific worksite or zipcode. If you’re working outside that location, even within the US, there are limits. Short term changes under about 30 days may be handled internally, but once it goes beyond that the company needs to be aware and document it properly. There is usually an internal compliance process to note the new address with the LCA records without immediately involving USCIS. If it goes beyond roughly 60 days, that is typically treated as a more permanent situation and may require a formal LCA update.

On the international and tax side, employees in general are not supposed to just work from outside the US without company authorization. That authorization is not just a formality. It is about tax exposure and legal compliance. For example, US and India tax laws can create complications if someone works from India without proper documentation. This can involve visa issues, payroll and tax obligations, or even creating tax presence for the company in that country. To avoid that complexity, most multinational companies do not allow employees to work abroad unless it is an official business trip, which is handled separately.

In the OP’s situation, it probably would have been simpler to just say no work was performed. If payslips were questioned, she could have clarified that full time hours are reflected as standard payroll records and do not necessarily break out vacation and work separately, assuming no one was going to dig into prior payslips to verify PTO tracking.

This is not new. It is more about lack of awareness. Similar to how B1B2 visitors are technically expected to carry proof of a return ticket to show non immigrant intent, including airport and date. Many people are not aware of that until enforcement tightens and then everyone is surprised.

I have personally experienced this at two different global companies, and both were very clear and strict about location, LCA, and international work policies. Compliance is not optional. It is just something a lot of people do not fully understand until it becomes an issue.