Can he do this?? | Imamother

MaBelleVie

Sun, Sep 04 2011, 11:06 am

JAWSCIENCE wrote:

ElTam wrote:

I'm going to advise again, and very strongly.

Your DH is going to a direct competitor. You may get that two weeks of pay, and he may get sued for going to the competitor, accused of taking company information etc. Don't let this get ugly. Nobody wins, and it is over two weeks of pay. The minute you get a lawyer in, that two weeks of pay has gone to the lawyer fee.

The only outcome is that your DH is going to be labeled as a troublemaker and most employers are going to look at him as being in the wrong. Not the guy who fired him, because he kept where he was going to a secret.

It's two weeks pay. Figure out a way around it. Let it go. Chasing after it is not going to end well.

I would like to second this advice. It is not worth it over two weeks of pay to sue the employer, especially as you mentioned it's a frum guy. It could get so ugly and my guess is you will be found in the wrong not the employer. The lawyer may be able to help you get unemployment but for two weeks I doubt it;s wort it.

I third this. Be happy that your dh did not sign a non-compete clause and that he is able to go from one job to the next without true unemployment. Going with a lawyer, or filing unemployment, will get you minimal payback (or worse, make you pay out), and a lot of headache and bad feelings. Don't burn your bridges, leave with dignity.

Kayza

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 12:58 pm

amother wrote:

Had they said they only needed two, he could then have gone back to the new employer and asked to start earlier.

Really? You did mention that the new employer couldn't have him start right away, because the employee he was replacing had not even been let go yet. Furthermore, they accepted it based on his withholding relevant information.

Quote:

In the meantime, any ideas how unemployment works? Can one get it for only a two week period? What documentation do you need to show that you were fired?

He needs a letter or something of the sort from his employer. And, they will either not give him one, or they will state that he QUIT and that all they had done was let him go two weeks earlier than he hap planned to leave. In the first case he is going to have a pretty hard time proving anything. In the second case, he'll get laughed out of the unemployment office.

And before you get all indignant about the employer, you need to realize that every time a laid off employee collects unemployment insurance, it has a negative effect on the last employer. So, no normal employer is going to help an employee who left to go to their biggest competitor collect unemployment benefits.

amother

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 1:01 pm

OP here, thanks for the replies. dh does not have a contract therefore there is nothing holding him back from going to a competitor. At this point they are withholding all dh's sick and vacation pay which is typically paid at the end of the year or when a person is no longer working for them. This is alot of money and therefore we are going to have to get a lawyer involved anyway to get this money so I guess we will see what he says regarding the two weeks.

Kayza

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 1:26 pm

amother wrote:

I don't think they are being very mentshlich about that. But, without a contract, you probably won't get anything. And, in many cases, even with a contract, employers don't pay back not taken sick time anyway.

Do yourself a favor. Make sure you are talking to a very good employment lawyer, and make sure you know your exposure to legal fees vs the REAL chances of collecting anything before you spend too much money.