bbsm post a question a few weeks ago: here is my crazy thought:

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I heard a case that a Sister was laid off from a small company. The boss was nice enough to keep her H1 status, but refussed to let her back to work.
Actually this boss has more then his share, since he might still have to pay for the tax, yet he is also under financial constrain. She should be thanksful for that.
Meanwhile, is it possible for her to go back to the boss and ask if she can still work on the project part time, for free? The boss might like it, because he can have more people working for that project, yet she also have continuous employee history, and being able to keep refresh on working experience. Working part time for free also give her more freedom to prepare and go interview, and she might have a new perspective on old project, which might yield surprise result for the boss. If things improved for the company, she will be the first one the boss will bring back.
(Just my crazy thought.)