Stay while waiting for GC EAD

[tina.kasshyap]

I am on L1A and my maximum 7years of stay is coming to an end (July end 2020). My stamped and I-94 are valid till  Nov 2019. We applied our final extension of L1A last November and I am continuing to work while my extension is in progress. Meanwhile my employer started my GC process in EB1 (porting from EB2, which has priority date from 2016). As per latest visa bulletin, my priority date is current, so, my employer filed EB1 140 and AOS concurrently recently. Now, my L1A extension reaches 240-days period early next week. Based on the fact that I applied for AOS, I was told that I can legally stay in US but cannot work. My question is, what does 'cannot work' actually mean? Does it mean that I should not be on payroll? Is it mandatory to separate from the company? Is it enough to stop running the payroll? I was told I shall not work after 240-days till the time I receive my EAD, which is concurrently applied with my EB1 I-140 and AOS. Can I still be associated with my employer but not draw the salary? Can I continue with my employer, for ex., on leave without pay? Is that valid? Or is it mandatory to separate from the employer after 240-days of visa extension in progress? My L1A extension went for RFE so I am not sure how separation from company will impact this. Need answer to this. Thank you!