Posted by
pphhjjhh
13 yrs ago
Terminated my DH a month ago with a proper one months notice in writing.Gave her a copy and informed Immigration about this too. On the last day DH refused to sign for her final wages and walked off without payment. I wrote to Labour dept about that too. A week later I received notice from labour dept that My ex DH had made claim against me for severance pay saying that she was wrongfully terminated,when in fact the reasons for me to dismiss her were negligence on the job. I had caught her drinking at a kids bday party where they were serving wine to the adults. And this is while she was looking after my 2 yr old. She is also claiming that I have underpaid her. She has worked with me for one whole contract and 4 months so a total of 28 months. The severance pay amounts to a lot because of that. But why should I have to pay her anything?? Have been called to attend a conciliation talk in about 2 weeks time. Any advice??
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well.. there is some DH are doing this kind of thing to try to make extra money from you. Yes she can claim the sort of the severance pay when she has worked for u for 2 full years, but you only have to pay her this if you are not going to hire another DH, cos this kind of the severance pay is sort of the redundancy, so if u r not going to hire another DH then u have to pay, but u do not have to pay this if u r going to hire one again, just need to prove to the conciliation representative that u r going to hire another one, better provide the new contract then u will be save for this. but for the flase claim for the termination, will be a bit tricky, how much she is claiming u for the final payment?? if it is only the final payment she should get plus her ticket back home n travel/food allowance door to door then pay her at the representative there if more than that then u have to gather all the witness and proof. it will cost u time to do so, but this is the thing that u must face.
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unless your dh has solid evidence that she was wrongly terminated, then you have nothing to worry about.
the only thing though that you should have done is to have her sign her termination papers and have a witness counter sign it. have you stated the reason on the termination letter?
make sure you have copies of the termination letter and other documents. do you have copies of her monthly salary receipts? bank statement etc?
do you have some evidence of her negligence. include that and if not list down a history of her negligent acts and details of the offense.
i have emphasized over and over again, that employers should always ask their dh to sign a receipt when they get their salaries. also if they have incurred an offense to put it down in writing and have your dh acknowledge this with a neutral witness countersigning it. it is just to cover bases when dh's think up of schemes like this.
be firm in your stand. be level headed and ensure to take down notes so you can check for loopholes in her stories
good luck
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I did try to get her to sign the final paperwork with a breakdown of all her salary payments as well as all other payments along with all holidays and miscellaneous. I also had a witness present. But she refused to sign. Just kept repeating that she just wanted her final salary and wanted to leave..but without signing. So I refused to give her the money without her signature. Soon after that I sent a letter to the labour dept informing them of this incident. As for the monthly payments, I did make her sign receipts which I still have in my possession.
I am in the process of looking for a new helper. But havent been able to find someone suitable yet. The thing is that I have 2 helpers,and my other one is managing my 2 kids just fine at the moment. The question is that do I need to have already started processing paperwork for a second helper before I go for this conciliation talk, or will they accept the fact that I am still looking for a new one. Also wrongful termination.. How can I provide evidence about her negligence.. a witness from my side?? But will they accept my witness/friend?
What kind of evidence is solid from her side regarding the underpayment of wages. i have always paid her in full and she has signed for all of them. I always paid her in cash, but made her sign for it. So stressed!! I'm a single mum of 2 and travel a lot for work so this is such an added burden for me to deal with.
Thanks to everyone for their advice!!
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dont worry, for the evidence, is for both side to provide! u think that it is hard for u to provide the evidence that the labor dept will believe, this will be the same thing for her, she has to prove that u were underpay her, to prove that it was an unreasonable termination.
for the second helper, just tell them that u r looking for one, dont worry they will give u time, u have around 6 months time. so no worries!
for your witness, can be anyone, your friend, your mother anyone! if u cannot settle this argument at the conciliation, then your case will transfer to the labor Tribunal, then u will need to prepare your own statement n fill out a form. just make sure u state clearly everything n put down your witness in the form and also ask your witness to prepare the statement.
walk away without taking the final payment... no worries! LD been seeing too many of this case they will give u good advise during the interview.
why i know all these!?! cos i have been through exactly the same thing as u, n my ex dh could not get an extra cent from me. it took me 6 months to close the case.
good luck
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Is it necessary to have copy of the warning letter I gave my DH? Have been adviced that without a written warning the termination can be considered wrongful.
I cannot find a copy of mine and I'm sure she must have omitted to include that as from her side..
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everything can be twisted by the dh. so yes it would be helpful if all the written documents are with you during the hearing.
you mentioned that you had a witness during the signing? why not bring that person with you to solidify your statement
agree, if she is seeking more monies - she has to come up with proof that she was underpaid which i doubt she can't prove
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if u terminate her without notice and not paying her the one month notice then this is wrongful termination!
if u gave her one month notice already, plus your witness that saw her drinking while taking care of your child, guess this is better than a warning letter.
but the thing is, did u give her anything to sign when u gave her the one month notice, or u just wanted the last day to ask her to sign??? if she did not sign anything when u gave her the one month notice, she can really say that u never told her that u were going to terminate her until the day that she should leave your house, it could be tricky. how much in total she is claiming u?
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One months notice papers all in order.she signed
And I have copies of it.it's the warning letters
That I seemed to have misplaced. Also have
All the receipts of all monthly payments.
Actually my paperwork pretty much in
order. Just stressed.. Since I have never
had to deal with the law before!!
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Then dont worry now... relax... it will be stressful, it i guess u will be alrite as your case is exactly the same as mine!
dont think too much now, as u will never know what kind of lies she she going to tell to the LD, so there is no need to think about it now. Just attend the interview on time, always stay calm during the interview. thats all u have to do.
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Thanks Carmen. Coming onto this forum had really helped ease my mind a lot. But I cannot help but stress. Hate the idea of it all going to court as I have such limited time off from work which is so precious to me to spend with my kids as a single mom. Anyhow..no choice now!!
At the moment I hate all DH..We take them in,treat them with respect and care and this is how they repay us..
There really should be a law to safeguard te employers too!!!
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please read the other thread titled dh false statement. it would give you some idea on what goes on during trials.
ensure that you don't become soft hearted and discouraged easily and settle the case with money... after all that is what she is after... an easy way to get money.
wish you luck on your case... keep us updated.
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Tks Wiz Bang.. Every day I wake up feeling miserable as I know I have this case looming over my head. Can't wait for it to be over.. Will definitely keep u all posted n will celebrate if it works out.. Tks!!!
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