Posted by
Artois
16 yrs ago
Right, this is a huge story. But, I shall provide the cliff notes.
1. Fired helper after 1.5 years
2. Offered money as per the law, ticket as per the law, everything as per the law.
3. This was all refused. Helper:
- threatened/demanded more money
- refused air fare
- keeps referring to 'evidence' and how much this is going to cost us.
- he has been given a months extension by immigration and started a labor action against us
What can I expect now?
This is keeping me up at nights.
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Can you provide proof that he refused all your offers to comply with the law?
He must have some grounds for a case, but if it comes down to a "he said, she said" kind of case, you will probably just end up paying the DH one's month's salary in lieu (otherwise 30 days) and the return air-fare.
Unless he has proof you have not complied with the law (paid the legal salary etc), you don't have too much to worry about.
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did you give out a written letter and was this forwarded to the immigration, labor and phil. consulate?
i am wondering what evidence your dh and evidence of what
well don't give in, play it out. your dh would also be probably be hoping that you would settle and give in to her demands
why was the dh fired? is there evidence that the dh was neglecting her duty?
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a friend went through similar story, was total nightmare, the court case dragged on for months and months and months, meanwhile the friends were not allowed to hire another Phil DH as you are "blacklisted" in Phil consulate... cost tons of money.. not sure what the outcome was in the end - have not seen them since the case was closed... brace yourself. Nasty business, good luck
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Am I supposed to notify philipine consulate? I was told to terminate with immigration and that was it?
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the phil. consulate is not a requirement but i would have sent them a notice of what happend... ie that the dh was terminated but refused the severance pay etc etc.
it's just to cover all bases as i am sure she is going there and find supporters for her "sad" and twisted story.
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My God, I had to check it wasn't me who posted this. I am ashamed to admit it but we gave up in the end. We had already bought her a ticket which was non-refundable or transferable. What she was demanding was similar to the price of another ticket (more if she went over Christmas) and it was a "he said, she said" sort of case which meansthe outcome is squarely in the lap of the gods.
In the interests of getting her the hell out of our lives we gave her the money (which I discovered today she blew at least half on it on a farewell restaurant dinner for her mates).
If the GFC hadn't stuffed us up so entirely I would have fought the case through til the end. Unfortunately we couldn't afford the "matter of principle" approach.
I gave the helper (who claims to be a church goer) a copy of the ten commandments and the seven deadly sins with the relevant sections highlighted with her air ticket - thought she might like something to read on the flight back home.
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hshirley
"ouch" that one stings a little.....
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Kneebows, you made me laugh.
Still waiting on the labor dept
wish me luck
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Update - it was all a con/threat to get more money. The total from the labor department was almost exactly the initial offer. Thanks for all the support.
We now have the choice to either go to conciliation or pay the amount. We can pay the amount directly to the Labor Department - they then can pay on to the helper.
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exactly as i thought
what is conciliation? did the labor department side with you or her? im sure a lot of posters like me would love to know the details
and i would love to hear what the helper's reaction to this too
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yes please ....
PS , glad to bring a smile - I almost can now too.
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We have no idea where the helper is. That apparently (according to the labor dept is not our concern, we can pay directly to them, then it up to the labor dept to contact helper or vise versa)
This is my understanding:
1. Because the agreement was not amicable, a claim must be made at the labor dept. This is the helpers duty. If there is no claim, they cannot extend their visa past 2 weeks.
2. Labor department reply by writing there is an action against you and give a notice of conciliation, a date and a time for the matter to be settled again amicably. This took about a week to come.
3. My husband called the labor dept and they told him the first conciliation meeting is for the labor dept to see our files and help us determine how much we have to pay under the law - our side of the story.
4. It is my understanding that I can simply go to the labor dept, settle the claim and there can be no further action against us by the helper. If we do that before conciliation date, the matter is closed.
5. The labor dept take both sides of the story and request an amicable settlement. I have been told (please correct if wrong) that the labor dept can give 2 or 3 conciliation dates before the matter goes to court.
6. If the amount under disagreement is below $8000 it goes to small claims court, above that to big boys court.
7. While all this is going on the helper can neither work, nor seek new employment.
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so you took action no. 4?
i guess her threat of damning evidence was a bluff all along. good that you played it along and called her bluff. it was certainly pie on her face.
anyways, i wonder if one can check the labor department before hiring a domestic helper to check records whether the person had previously or currently filed a labor dispute. that would certainly help a lot in making decisions on whether or not to hire that person
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I will ask labor dept. I have a few questions to ask them before we pay! Anyone else have any questions while I am there?
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i guess the only questions i have aside from the above is
1. what do employers do if dh does not want to acknowledge the termination letter and offer.
2. what kind of evidence is needed by the labor department to show proof that the termination was justified
but really, if we can check up on past records or cases - it would really assist anyone in making an informed decision whether to hire or not
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Bob!
16 yrs ago
Kneebows.....love your work!!!! :-)
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