15 replies to this topic

[Sandrita]

I have gone to Rolly's website and the only thing I found out was that if an emplyee quits then severence pay is not due. My question (and I think I know the answer) is: is pro-rated vacation and "Christmas" bonus still due?

Muchas gracias.

[Happy Feet]

I have gone to Rolly's website and the only thing I found out was that if an emplyee quits then severence pay is not due. My question (and I think I know the answer) is: is pro-rated vacation and "Christmas" bonus still due?

Muchas gracias.

Correct.

[elbelgicano]

And when paying the vacation/aguinaldo, I would have her signed that she quit, so that later she can not claim that you fired her and claim severance pay.

[manny]

if someone "quits" (& not for a valid reason, like health issues) why should you pay their vacation??? i would not. & i cant believe that is on rolly's web-sight, & who put it there? long time rumors become reality? what if they start in january & quits in march or april, are you paying for next xmas & the summer vacation? this is crazy. 2 p/t er's left here over the years, asked me for nothing.

[JayBearII]

Manny, it's prorated if they quit in the middle of the year. Get a grip. It is not all about what you think. Mexico has laws just so people will not take advantage of their employees. For example, some unprincipled employers would make life miserable for their employees so that the employees quit, just so the employer would feel okay about getting rid of them without giving them their proper compensation. I am sure you would never do something like this, but it has happened, which is why there are laws to protect employees.

[barlin]

Could someone please post Rolly's website.
Gracias

[Bisbee Gal]

http://rollybrook.com/

[JRPJR]

Correct.

Who knew!

[More Liana]

If your employee quits, you do NOT owe any part of vacation or aguinaldo. The people here who have posted otherwise are incorrect. Again, you do NOT owe the employee anything.

If you let your employee go for any reason--you are dissatisfied with his/her work, you are moving to another place in Mexico, you are moving to another country, etc--you are required to pay severance pay as shown on Rolly's website. Read that section of his website very carefully.

[manny]

liana, i speak w/MANY mexicans. employers and employees. all kinds of situations, p/t. f/t. you, me & the mexicans all agree! let these other people be the know it all's. its their $$$. the people who quit here, knew they were owned nothing. AND the woman i let go (not a maid), was owed nothing as she didnt do the work, tried to steal, over & over. also dented the car. i practically threw her out of the house. she knew she would get no where w/me. never returned, never went to court. (everyone said i owed her 12,000pesos & oh the drama). she took most americans to the cleaners. good people are hard to find. some mexican employers are terrible & should be sued. but most americans are suckers. there was a running scam. a lawyer would take groups of mexican workers to court, take 60% of the comp. it was a racket, this went on for a few years.

[Ferret]

I'm sorry but I disagree with both More Liana and Manny. An employee is owed the proportional vacation time and the proportional aguinaldo for the time that they worked for you.
Are you trying to say that if they quit at the end of November, they are not owed ANYTHING for the 11 months that they worked for you?
Call Eva Gonzales, accountant well versed in labour law...in Bucerias...(329) 298-0738. She does not speak English but she knows the Federal Labour Law. She'll probably have a lot to say about your opinions.

[More Liana]

I'm sorry but I disagree with both More Liana and Manny. An employee is owed the proportional vacation time and the proportional aguinaldo for the time that they worked for you.
Are you trying to say that if they quit at the end of November, they are not owed ANYTHING for the 11 months that they worked for you?
Call Eva Gonzales, accountant well versed in labour law...in Bucerias...(329) 298-0738. She does not speak English but she knows the Federal Labour Law. She'll probably have a lot to say about your opinions.

Ferret, there is a world of difference between what the Federal Labor Law requires when an employee is let go and what a humanitarian individual might choose to do when an employee voluntarily leaves his or her job.

There is NO provision in the Federal Labor Law for paying anything to an employee who voluntarily leaves his or her job. The employer might choose to pay that employee a portion (or all) of his or her vacation time or aguinaldo, but that is the employer's choice.

In the case of a firing, whether for cause or for other reasons, the employer has no choice. The formula for payment of severance pay under those circumstances is clearly spelled out under Article 50 of the Federal Labor Law.

Some employers choose not to follow the letter of the law in letting an employee go. It's a big risk, though. The former employee is completely within his or her rights to take the former employer before the Labor Board for redress.

Some old-timers here on Chapala.com may remember a former Ajijic restaurant owner whose long-time employee abandoned her job at the restaurant. No severance pay was owed or paid--the employee to all intents and purposes quit. Several years later, the former employee took the former employer before the Labor Board, claiming to have been fired. The Labor Board ruled in favor of the former employee. The restaurant owner was ordered to pay the former employee 250,000 pesos. The restaurant owner did not have the funds to pay that amount. She chose to close the restaurant, take her daughter, and leave the country in order to avoid further legal action.

Be sure to have your former employees sign a statement that either they have received their severance pay OR that they are leaving the job voluntarily and are owed nothing. Your employee signs, you sign, and a witness signs. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Ferret]

Signing is, indeed, important...even for the weekly salary. We have always used a professional when either dealing with an employee who quits or dealing with severance pay. We like the built in witness and I admire Eva's ethics...she doesn't like any funny business on either the part of the employee or the employer...a true straight arrow.
She doesn't define workers as full time or part time...she defines them as permanent or temporary. A permanent employee is one who works for you week after week, doing the same job, for a specified number of hours and for a specified amount of pay. A temporary worker would be (for example) a plumber who comes in once (hopefully) to fix (for example) your toilet.
I can imagine the uproar if an employee quit NOB and was denied their vacation pay.
We will continue to do the "right" thing. YMMV.

[manny]

you cant compare a "business" employee w/a p/t maid. the restaurant had contracted employees, paid taxes etc. it was stupid for them to open here. they lost because they were american. (always a target). a mexican employer may have won in court, though the worker is usually favored. the employee had check stubs to show, or written docs. it was the workers word against the restaurants. i remember the story. but i am unclear if the worker just disappeared & then later went to court? too bad, because it would have been easier to make a settlement. as for a maid "quitting in november"? i would give the xmas bonus. since the year is up, she proberly had the vacation. if the year was not up (say she started in may), no vacation pay, as shes not coming back. i would pay the compensation package for time worked. i would deduct a small portion for december, unless she quits for medical or emergency. & have her sign a paper. most mexican employers pay nothing if someone quits AND if the were fired! they dont seem to be concerned about labor boards.

[manny]

comment # 2, what i mean by compensation package, is severance pay. best to always make a deal, have them sign & get on w/it.

[joco69]

If there is a lot of money involved, many years of service, its better to use a lawyer who is specialized in labour laws. Employees might be nice people but sometimes after they leave might get into harship and try to get back at their former employers to get money they really need. Even signed documents can be ignored by the Labour laws, so its better to have it down through a labour lawyer who knows how to protect both parties.