Secreteria de Trabajo conflict

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laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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Hi everyone

I have just recently given an employee his 28 days notice and went to calculate his severence pay with the Secreteria de Trabajo in Higuey and got my lovely piece of paper saying how much i owed the employee, no problem.

A few days later the employee came to me with another piece of paper from the Secreteria in Santo Domingo with an amount 20,000 higher based on the same information.

Now firstly i find it strange that one SET can give a completly different answer than another based on the same details, as they all just pop them into the computer and bish bash bosh up comes the answer.

I said to the employee "No problem i will query on monday and let him know", well he started getting all upset and had to be asked kindly to leave the office.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this issue. I dont know if Santo Domingo overides all other branches or as we are based and work out of Higuey it is the Higuey office that we listen to.

Hate it when this liquidation stuff gets out of hand, just wanted to pay the guy what i owe him and part on good terms.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Can you spell L A W Y E R ? Get a labor lawyer to do this. Give him/her your paperwork and let him deal with it.

HB
 
L

laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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Well in a way i am glad i didnt go straight to a labor lawyer, because a very quick query to SET shows that the office in Santo Domingo did not put that the Termination included the Pre-aviso/28 days notice.

Phew!
 
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MrMike

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Just please, please make sure that when you pay him his liquidation you get him to sign a waiver saying he has been paid in full and renounces all rights to sue for more.

It's not bullet-proof and doesn't actually make it impossible for him to sue, but it does help and significantly reduces the chance you will be penalized should you actually be sued for more.

What you want to avoid is a situation where you pay the employee's liquidation, then he stupidly blows through it in a week or two and then sues you for liquidation again saying he never got a dime.
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Laurajane, I do not understand> Did you forget to include something or did the MET (it is now a ministry, not a secretariat) add too much?
Explain so the rest of us can learn...

HB
 
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MrMike

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Here is what I understand since the same thing has happened to me about a 3 dozen or so times.

She went down to the labor board, presented all the facts and got the total she should pay the guy.

He went down there on his own and conveniently neglected to mention that he was being given 28 days notice (preaviso) prior to termination.

So he thought he was getting more than he was actually owed.
 
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DMV123

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Mar 31, 2010
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The letter you give then is called a Descarga. Make sure to have a witness handy - give the employee the check and THEN they sign the letter in front of the witness. this is very important - if they sign first and then get the money - they will claim they signed under duress JUST to get the money.

The labor code is a nightmare - parts are very good and parts are very bad! realistically it is stacked in favor of the employee.
 
E

Eddy

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Jan 1, 2002
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laurajane said:
Hi everyone

I have just recently given an employee his 28 days notice and went to calculate his severence pay with the Secreteria de Trabajo in Higuey and got my lovely piece of paper saying how much i owed the employee, no problem.

A few days later the employee came to me with another piece of paper from the Secreteria in Santo Domingo with an amount 20,000 higher based on the same information.

Now firstly i find it strange that one SET can give a completly different answer than another based on the same details, as they all just pop them into the computer and bish bash bosh up comes the answer.

I said to the employee "No problem i will query on monday and let him know", well he started getting all upset and had to be asked kindly to leave the office.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this issue. I dont know if Santo Domingo overides all other branches or as we are based and work out of Higuey it is the Higuey office that we listen to.

Hate it when this liquidation stuff gets out of hand, just wanted to pay the guy what i owe him and part on good terms.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I would take the paper your employee gave you to the guy in Higuey and ask the guy what's going on. They get p*ssed off when someone goes over their head. Get the Higuey guy to help you out on this and hopefully screw the a**hole. Also spread the word so he can't get another job in the area. Gee I hate the people who try that crap.
 
L

laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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Hillbilly said:
Laurajane, I do not understand> Did you forget to include something or did the MET (it is now a ministry, not a secretariat) add too much?
Explain so the rest of us can learn...

HB
Click to expand...

No i did it all correctly, went to the SET and gave them all the info and explained he was being given his 28 days notice etc.

When i gave it to the employee he said "why so little?" (64,000 pesos)

I explained that i didnt think it was little but he can see i put correct salary and duration with company, i dont make the rules i just have the answer from SET.

He then decided to go all the way to SD and came back with a amount 20,000 pesos higher.

I spoke with SET and they said he had obviously declined to tell them he was working his 28 days notice and there for the first amount i got from SET is correct.

I am going with the employee to SET this morning so he can see i am not trying anything on and they can explain it to him.

I too did not like that he was questioning it and bascially was accusing me of trying to get one over on him, but thats how it always goes!
 
L

laurajane

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DMV123 said:
The letter you give then is called a Descarga. Make sure to have a witness handy - give the employee the check and THEN they sign the letter in front of the witness. this is very important - if they sign first and then get the money - they will claim they signed under duress JUST to get the money.

The labor code is a nightmare - parts are very good and parts are very bad! realistically it is stacked in favor of the employee.
Click to expand...

Yes i always do it that way. It seem here people only take a job to try and screw over the employer at the end, never mind that they have a job, a good one at that.
 
O

Oche

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Jan 6, 2004
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Yes i always do it that way. It seem here people only take a job to try and screw over the employer at the end, never mind that they have a job, a good one at that.
Click to expand...

La eterna batalla..
 
E

Eddy

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Jan 1, 2002
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laurajane said:
No i did it all correctly, went to the SET and gave them all the info and explained he was being given his 28 days notice etc.

When i gave it to the employee he said "why so little?" (64,000 pesos)

I explained that i didnt think it was little but he can see i put correct salary and duration with company, i dont make the rules i just have the answer from SET.

He then decided to go all the way to SD and came back with a amount 20,000 pesos higher.

I spoke with SET and they said he had obviously declined to tell them he was working his 28 days notice and there for the first amount i got from SET is correct.

I am going with the employee to SET this morning so he can see i am not trying anything on and they can explain it to him.

I too did not like that he was questioning it and bascially was accusing me of trying to get one over on him, but thats how it always goes!
Click to expand...

I've always found it wiser to pay them their notice and get rid of them right away. Either way you're paying his salary. Do the math, not much difference and the guy doesn't have the chance to screw up things during that period.
 
L

laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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Eddy said:
I've always found it wiser to pay them their notice and get rid of them right away. Either way you're paying his salary. Do the math, not much difference and the guy doesn't have the chance to screw up things during that period.
Click to expand...

Yes you are right, This is the first time i have liquidated someone and given notice as he is not being fired because he has done anything wrong as such. And yes it does seem that it works out more or less the same just to get rid as all has time to do now is moan and bad mouth at work which in turn effects the other employees.

So yes, not something i will do again.
 
Drake

Drake

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Jan 1, 2002
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Stay away from labor court!!

What ever you do don't let it get to the courts as the employer especially gringos will always loose. Make a deal and cut your losses.
 
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