Fired our Property Manager. Do I owe her money for "severance"?

I fired our Property Manager. She worked for us and a few other property owners. She says I "have" to pay her money by Dominican law based on her time with us and how much we have paid her over the past few years. I would think she would be considered an "independent contractor" and NOT an employee.

Do I "have" to pay her this? I already gave her a "severance" on my own, but....

Thank you!
 
Jun 18, 2007
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www.rentalmetrocountry.com
Did she work for a salary or did she make commission?
If she got paid a salary then you will have to give her her "liquidacion". If she just got paid commissions I'd assume you wouldn't have to pay her anything.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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you have to pay her the liquidation based on salary AND commissions. you can calculate it here: :: C?lculo de Prestaciones Laborales ::
you have 10 working days to pay this. if you cannot calculate it yourself go to the closest secretaria de trabajo office and they will do it for you. for free. ask them to print it out, take a copy, present to the worker and have them sign that the money was received. keep signed document, give them the copy.

i hope you have some sort a document confirming that you paid her the severance you mentioned or else you are in a deep, dark buttcrack of despair.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Had you make a contract with the former property manager as an independent contractor, paying a stated "fee" for services rendered, you would not have to pay liquidation money. In that case you would have a backing that she worked for other properties as well, so bing independent contractor was a legitimate set up (usually independent contractor working 100% time for just one company would be considered employment under DR law, but working for multiple companies the same thing - property management - could be claimed was a business relationship). But because you have no contract stating he/she was independent contractor, you will have to fork out the compensation money.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
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I'd say figure this out with someone who really knows about labour law. Did you really pay her a salary or was it a fixed fee per month. If she was working for other property owners and probably didn't have established working hours, I wouldn't consider this a normal employer / employee relationship and would be inclined not to pay her liquidacion.
 
She was paid a fixed amount per month....so I would call that a salary BUT you could also call it a fee. I do not begrudge payiing her, but I don't know how much it will end up being. I thought when I gave her $100US that was very fair. She made $75-80/month US.
 

mido

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May 18, 2002
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How long did she work for you?
That doesn't really matter, if there is no contract, she was not officially "enrolled" and social security hasn't been paid accordingly, than it is what SHE says!
Try to talk to her and come to an agreement with her before the wrong people talk her into going after you for more. Make sure you get a document signed when you pay her more!