terminating contract

Can I terminate my helper now with a month's salary and wll the other trappings if my husband signed her contract and not me? He is in the uk or must it be done by him.

Go to immigration and get the form (there is a counter for forms) - fax this to your husband and have him sign it. I assume you can fill it out - he will need to sign it. I would get him to fax or email you back a copy and he can send the original fast post back to immigration. (they make take a faxed copy - you can ask)


Now, the date you terminate will be on this form. This is important, as you have 2 weeks from that date to sort everything out with the helper.



Example - if you were to terminate today, December 12, she would have until December 26 to leave the country/find other employment. If you gave a months notice, she would have 2 weeks from the end of that months notice.


What you write on the form is up to you. But, it can delay future domestic helper hirings, so be careful. ie - do not put down financial reasons, as they may then require a lot more proof you can hire a helper than the first time.


Go to labor department. There is a form that helps you work our what you owe under the law. Have it all ready (there are cheap flights from world wide house) and GET A WITNESS. If there is someone nearby in the apartment building that has a helper you and she knows, then it might be nice to get her a witness as well.


Give her notice of termination - this does not have to be a reference, more a release letter. Give her any money owed (flights, transportation allowance, holiday pay, salary in lieu of notice) Make sure she signs - I had 2 copies of everything and we all signed twice, so we each had a signed copy. (the witnesses sign as well)


Allow her to go and get her things.


Your husband is allowed to appoint someone on his behalf if he cannot deal with the labor side of this, if it goes as far as the labor dept. Have your husband send you a letter stating that as he is out of the country, he is asking you to oversee the final payments to the helper. Remember, you may get hired by your boss, but human resources do the paperwork.

Thank you Artois, It all seems so scary. I am sure she has planned this to happened around christmas time, plus I lent her money 3,000 which is when she changed. I am nervous in my own home and will pay what it takes to get this woman away from em and my sons.

Do you have a receipt of lending her the money?

Funny that.....we gave our sweet innocent helper $10,000 for her 'sick mother,' More fool us. Her attitude seemed to change after that as well as she plotted running away and dragging us through the Labour courts for over a year. Lending money and being generous is not seen as a sign of kindness but a sign of weakness. Never again will we be so generous. Isnt it a shame how these wicked deceitful helpers ruin it for everyone.

I totally agree, she was with me for 2 years and I thought she was fantastic. I never got a receipt but I got rid of her yesterday and had a witness who helped me with everything. It was the boss of the agency I used to do the paper work, so she turned up unexpectedly and I got all my money back, the only money I conceeded and gave in to was the money she owed me for the extra holiday we gave her, which was alot less than I expected. Changed the locks just in case, and now I know, never lend money and don't give more than 1 week holiday a year as it will be thrown back in your face, she was saying the most ridiculous things like we forced her to go back home for a holiday! yeah really!! Generosity is a sign of weaknesss you are right there. We live and learn , but it is a mine field, and I think I have been quite lucky.

Thank you to all of you for your support and advise, I felt like my world was collapsing around me.

did you change your phone number too? and make sure that the guard /management of the building knows that she no longer works for you.

No not phone number but have told the guard.mangement of the building. I will cross that bridge if I come to it.

How about air ticket? do i give it to her on the day that i will terminate her? i want to have the cebu pacific ticket issued now so it's cheaper. what if she doesn't want to stay for 14 days more or if she plans to extend?


Thanks.