Resign - And Get Paid... School Is Holding Salary At Ransom

[WonnabeBiker]

At this large school, payroll is standardized. Only a certain bank will do. And on the 25th after lunch, the salaries will be in the accounts.

• On the 25th before closing time, there was no money in my account.
  
• Nor on the 26th.
  
• That's when I asked the Finance Dept. They said the salary was paid out in cash to someone else.
  
• When? The previous Friday!
  

I had a frank talk with a powerful friend at the school, sharing my view that there has been criminal activity. I told the friend that I would be going to Labour Court the next day.

27th: Labour Court.

28th: The school told me not to teach the last period.

Then I was handed a weird letter in which my termination at some day in the future was announced.

Not a proper notice, stating something like "this is your last day" or "herewith we give you 1 month's notice...".

A Thai speaker consulted the local Labour Dept. (are there any English speaking staff - just wondering).

As instructed, I sent a letter asking that the school's "Welfare committee" hear my case.

Some folks rely on their pay checks. I do. And this went far enough!

Got a nice pay slip, you know?In their letter, they say that I failed probation. <deleted>? I passed probation more than 7 weeks ago! (Thai labour law limits the probation period to a maximum of 120 days. That includes a month's extension which requires written notice). Nice try. The idea was to fire me without notice and then hold on to my salary.

Yesterday, they put the cards on the table. Come and resign - we will then pay you for September and promise not to cancel your WP until you have found a new job.

Well? To resign would make their day! No notice period and no severance to pay!

Technically, I'm still waiting for them to follow through and actually "terminate" my services. But I read that 900+ posts thread about how a school secretly cancelled the WP and how that triggered a sequence which brought a teacher into a cell at the IDC. There some scary dude collected 500 Baht per day.

I will ask some questions in the next post.

Thanks for reading!

[WonnabeBiker]

Q1: Do you have first-hand experience with such an issue?

Q2: How did you force the school to pay up?

Yes, they say the salary is there - but they want to force me to resign. That would cost me more than 2 months' wages, as they have to synchronize the termination with the pay cycle. That's a Thai thing.

Q3: There will be a hearing at the Labour court later this month. I would have to hire a translator.

Q4: Have you hired a lawyer - and how much was it? A ball park figure would be good! I'm not flush with cash right now. And I trust that the judge would see through their shenanigans. I mean, how long does it take to figure out they want to fire someone?!? The rest should be easy. But then, its all about the bucks - the rest is just conversation! (Gordon Gecko in Wall Street).

Q5: They say they want me to come in and resign - which I won't do Without resigning, they won't release my salary Now that they are really mad at me, they might already have cancelled my WP. Which would mean, I better make a bee line to the border.

Cheers!

[scooterboy]

Wow! - that sounds really crappy. Man, the best of luck with this one!

Hope it all works out well for you and that you get another job quickly.

Do let us know how you get on - and if things start to really heat up, then tell us where you are - maybe you'll need a hand somewhere along the line...

Take care , WB

[sirchai]

Whatever you're planning to do, they'll have the longer arm. I'd be very careful and check at the labour department if your wp is still good, or already cancelled.

A short note from school will do the trick.

Happened to me when I had found another much better paid job, informed them four weeks before to give them time to look for another teacher. A chat with the HR woman of the school seemed to give me two weeks time.

But they'd informed the labour dep. on the same day, and I had to leave to Laos the next day to avoid an overstay.

As far as i know you can get a lawyer from the city hall, at the department for employees. Was at least the case in my province a few years ago, when they got rid of an American in a really nasty way.

Guess there're some TV members with more experience. Guess you know how lawyers not just in this country make their money.

Anyway- good luck, whatever the outcome will be.----

Edited October 2, 2012 by sirchai

[Scott]

I am hoping that some people with practical experience come along and steer you in the right direction. I have heard that the Labor Dept. has people who can help you.

It is not uncommon for schools to have you sign a form which says that all relations between you and the school are completed and that you agree to relieve the school of any legal responsibility, blah, blah, blah. If you don't sign the resignation form, you don't get paid.

This is part of what the court will have to settle. As well as the probation period. Most schools will sweeten the pot with some extra money just to get through the whole situation without any trouble. It's not a lot of money, but most people will take the money and run.

I have dealt with these situations on several occasions and usually if people get desperate enough, they sign the form and take the money and move on. Not too many people have the financial resources to challenge these things and the schools sort of bank on that.

The Work Permit issue is a big one. Is there someone in the administration that you can trust to tell you when it is being cancelled. Regardless of what is going on, we usually work with the employee as much as possible regarding the cancellation of the work permit. It will be cancelled, but whether that happens immediately or there is a little lag time is negotiated with the employee--even if the departure is not an amiable one.

Unless you have been terminated, officially and in writing, they should not cancel your work permit. They should not cancel it as long as there is pending legal action either.

Best of luck and keep us informed.

[WonnabeBiker]

Thanks for the replies - they are truly appreciated!

...

Well, I returned to school and went to the Finance Dept. (after getting an e-mail stating they had my salary). No more talk of "resigning". They said instead they "will wait for the court hearing" in a few weeks' time.

Frustrated and suspicious, I continued to ask them to transfer the salary into my bank account. No can do. Why not?!? I have a pay slip but never got 1 Baht. Okay, can I have an amended pay slip then?

The food I eat is bought with a credit card as I have run out of cash.

So I called a law firm. They said the Labour Dept had free lawyers - but that's at the big city. But I will try the Municipality office as well.

So it boils down to me having no right to ask for the usual bank transfer? I have suffered a bit and want their late payment to be made with a paper trail!

Thanks for reading and making suggestions!

[thunder30101]

Can you see light from the hole you dug for yourself ? You will be lucky to get anything now sorry to say.