Past employer threats

[sorrymontana]

Hi,

Just wondering what your opinion on this would be.

I left my past employer in May, a small window and door company, consisting of an owner and a salesman. I worked there for about 5 months as a secretary just to be able to pay my bills and look for a proper job at the same time. Both the owner are salesman are immigrants from Ukraine, I'm Russian, so we were on an imformal relationship, there was no written contract, just an oral agreement about the salary. When I first came in for a " job interview" they assured that "everything will be legal, T4s, taxes whatever you need for immigration".

Later they said they were not interested in paying taxes for me, they are a small company and are allowed to pay me by cheques, if I want to have proper paperwork I should take care of it myself. So I opened a payroll account, sent taxes on the company's behalf. Sometimes they would tell me to go on unpaid vacation as they didn't need me at the office during christmas holidays etc etc.

Long story short, I luckily quit in May but I wasn't paid for April and May. I did have a blank cheque signed by my owner with my name on it but without the salary amount. This often happened before as I was writing lots of cheques out for different purposes, to pay company's bills, telemarketers' wages. I calculated my own salary (by hours I worked, minus tax) and prepared cheques to CRA and myself that my owner would normally sign. Sometimes my employer would sign the cheque first and I'd fill out the rest afterwards (name/numbers).

I called this employer in July saying I'll be depositing the cheque with my April and May salary, named the amount of hours worked/amount of money. My employer said I already got all the money I deserved and if I deposit the cheque he'll call the police and accuse me of fraud. He yelled at me and threated me. I told him we can meet, check on-line banking and see that I only deposited my December-March salary, none for April and I also have copies of all cheques I received. I emailed them twice and called multiple times suggesting to meet but no one replied.

While working there in April I sent my pairoll deductions to CRA for April but not for May. My fault is that I didn't deposit the cheque right away after I quit but the owner would often ask me to wait with depositing the cheques as they didn't have enough money on the account.

I thought to file a complaint first that I didn't get the salary but now changed my mind as one of these two guys almost went to jail a few years ago, he is just crazy, and I'm worried that they may do anything, like accuse me of what I didn't do and it may affect my immigration file. I said good bye to $2500 dollars, all I want it my immigration to go smoothly.

I am not going to use these 5 months of experience as part of 0ne-year requirement for CEC post-graduate strem as I'm worried that if immigration officers call this employer, my employer may lie about me, saying like I never worked there or maybe saying that I worked but stole or commited a fraud.

I don't want to call them or see them ever again and I want to forget about them as a nightmare and worst mistake I ever made. The question is, is it ok if I write a explanation letter similar to this but not so emotional, which will explain what I did during the period of Dec 2011-May2012 (worked for window and door company named...) and why I can't get any employer letter/T4/Record of Employment from them. What I have currently proving that I worked there- copies of cheques I received, copies of cheques I sent to CRA with payroll deductions, copies of 2 emails to my employer asking to meet and discuss my unpaid salary situation. I may explain in the letter I don't want this work experience to be considered as part of my one-year requirement and I don't want immigration officers to contact this employer. I may also give the names of people who saw me working at this office who immigration officers may call for evidence (telemarketers I hired).

Would this be enough?

 

[Johnny31]

i guess you could leave out this job from your application since it won't be part of your 1yr of full-time experience required for CEC. when I was attending university, i worked some jobs without a working visa and received cash under the table, i didn't bother to put those in my file b.c they were pretty much non-existent in the eyes of the government (many restaurants in where i live has workers being paid by cash b.c they don't have working permits). you could just say you were unemployed during those 5 months and you were job hunting during those 5 months. the only thing that i could think of is when you file your taxes for 2012 next year. that would be an issue that you'll need to look into.

when you write a long over-detailed letter like this to immigration, it just makes things more complicated for you i think. they don't really care about any stories, they just want whatever documents requested on the checklist and anything that could support your application. and when you ask them not to call your employer (for any reason), it probably makes them want to check out this situation more. just a suggestion.

 

[computergeek]

I recently posted about this topic: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t118866.0.html

Your employer is legally liable for these wages. That you were filing the tax returns and what-not makes no difference - they were legally liable for it. Further, they had a legal obligation to issue you an ROE after your employment ended (my recollection is 30 days, but there is a hard limit on this.) None of this is your responsibility, it's theirs. In addition, you may be eligible for EI - if you were filing the returns, you were certainly paying for it, as were they. I realize you quit, but given the circumstances (e.g., the fact you weren't being paid) that would be "reasonable cause" to terminate your employment as it constitutes "constructive dismissal".

You may wish to move on, but don't misrepresent yourself by ignoring this employment. You CAN explain that you left on less-than-positive terms because they stopped paying you and you decided to quit, but the fact that there are CRA filings for that time period would be supportive of your position, as would the other evidence you indicated that you had. You're ALWAYS better off telling the truth, particularly to CIC where misrepresentation is a serious offence and may make you ineligible for immigration for years afterwards.

 

[sorrymontana]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I understand that they are required by law to pay me. However, even if I file the complaint and they decide to go to court and accuse me of fraud like they were threatening me, even after the court finds out I'm not guilty, the very fact that I was charged at some point of something will appear on my police criminal record. I saw how they were doing business (not always using the legal methods) so I predict they may go and lie at court saying that I forged cheques, stole money etc etc. So I decided not to file a complaint against them.

I filed a request for an ROA through Canada Employment and Immigration in June, as far as I know they were supposed to contact the employer about that, but it's a long process.

I think you are asked to file employment letters from ALL employers for the past 3 years when you apply for PR. saying I was unemployed while I was working would mean lying to CIC, I wouldn't do that