Help with understanding article 14 of Standard Labor Act

Hi! Long story short, I accepted a position and after working there for a few days I realized it’s not a good fit for me and I want to leave as soon as possible. My work permit is valid from the 1st, but the school asked me to start working a week before the contract starting date which means I was working illegally for 1 week. As per contract, they were supposed to pay me for the training and the extra work that month, but they ended up paying half of what they owe me. Can I use Article 14 to get out of the contract in this situation without getting into trouble for working illegally for 1 week?

You worked illegally, which they didn’t pay you for, and now you want to use the law to get out of your contract claiming they broke it by not paying you what they owed you for working illegally.

Does that about sum it up? :roll_eyes:

In addition to not paying your wages, going through the legal system would get them fined and you deported. Maybe don’t work illegally next time, and consider it the price of a life lesson.

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Thanks, I’ll hand in my official notice that I’m entitled to instead of using article 14 to quit without notice. Thank you!

I fully agree with that.

In addition to not paying your wages, going through the legal system would get them fined and you deported.

That wouldn’t happen automatically, but it could happen.

As for whether or not you could get your wages, I haven’t seen that question definitively settled. A contract can be civilly valid and administratively invalid at the same time, according to the Council of Grand Justices. (Of course, if you were deported you would also be fined, and that would almost certainly cost more than the missing wages.)

Haha spot on… yeah I’d keep the labor department out of it. Reporting it to the govt sounds like MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).

OP, handle it internally with the company and be smarter about the next gig you choose.

I think one thing should be clarified: you don’t need to ask the labor department for permission to use Art. 14. You can just go ahead and quit.

If the employer rejects the Art. 14 termination, it can take civil action against the employee, but that would almost certainly be worth less money than the legal fees, and it might lose anyway.

It only makes sense for the employer to take administrative action if it hates the employee so much that it’s willing to risk a large fine (and possibly even jail time for the boss) for the satisfaction of getting the employee fined, deported and banned.

OP could try to negotiate with the employer, as Drew suggests.

Of course, when in doubt ask a lawyer. :2cents:

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