If FDH breaks the law

K

kacoak

Registered User
Does anyone know what is the legal implication to employer if her FDH breaks the law?

My mother in law recently told me an unsettling story. When she was out grocery shopping with my FDH, after they paid and were leaving, she saw the helper took some candy bars from the checkout counter. The cashier lady was gone to the back and obviously the helper thought no one was watching. My in-law was quite shocked, but didn't say anything to the helper because she couldn't communicate with her and she didn't quite know what to do in that situation anyway so she waited until that night to tell me.

I'm not planning to rebuke the helper for this, as I was not there in person - if I were there instead of my in-law I would most certainly have had told her to put them back, or offer to pay for them at the very least. But does anyone know, if she had gotten caught and police was involved, would I have been responsible for anything since she was committing a crime while working for me (doing grocery). My instinct says no since it doesn't make much sense to penalize an employer for an employee's crime committed under her own free will, but I'd like to make sure since this is my first time hiring an FDH (she's only been with us a month). What if she breaks the law during her off day?
 
Your FDH is liable for theft, of course, but you as her employer are not. The only offense I can think of where the helper and employer are liable together is where the FDH is working illegally for other employers, be they strangers or family members of the non-sponsoring employer. Liability for theft is on the FDH only whether on her working days or off days.

My FDH was caught holding a bag of stolen goods on her day off. She claimed she had been 'framed' by her friend, who ran off after the shop detective caught them. The store camera could not prove she had stolen the goods. My FDH was prosecuted for possession of stolen goods. She pleaded guilty and was allowed to pay a small fine ($500) as she was a first time offender. Otherwise she would have been jailed.

She was working for us for 4 mths at the time and previously had been a good worker. My husband and I gave her the benefit of the doubt and allowed her to stay on with us. We warned her it was her first & last chance, if she made any more mistakes we would fire her. She has been a good worker til now.

For your situation, unless your MIL made a mistake, since your MIL actually saw this, I would advise you to fire the helper. Your helper will not stop shoplifting. It is likely she will not be honest with money in your household. Also likely she will pilfer things from your house and kitchen to sell or keep for herself. I personally would not give this helper a chance, but of course, you know the situation better.
 
I agree with Lisa88. I would get rid of her if your MIL is certain this is what happened. If she steals from a shop, I certainly would not trust her around my house
 
If I heard such a story from my MIL I would be more likely to not believe it and that she was trying to cause trouble. But - maybe that's just my MIL!
 
You need to give your helper one month's notice in writing that you are terminating her prematurely. You also have to inform Immigration Department in writing of the same. During this month, you'll probably want to keep a really close eye on her to make sure that she doesn't do anything rash before she goes. Stealing is the least of my worries. If she's Indonesian, she'll likely be in serious debt to an agent somewhere. Ideally, the agent would be willing to take her in immediately for that entire month (at your expense, of course), so that you don't need to worry. Good luck!
 
You dont need to fire her, you dont need to give her a notice in writing and you dont have to get overly stressed about your MIL.

What you need to do is to talk to your helper, and find out the story from her side before judging and convicting someone based on 3rd hand information.

HC
 
If she really did steal, then you have to get rid of her.
We once got rid of a PT who we discovered was taking small things from our flat, like books and CDs. It wasn't the money (it's not like she was stealing jewelry) and, when confronted, she returned most of the items. But we couldn't trust her to be home alone with our stuff after that. We'd always be looking over our shoulders to see if something was missing.
That said, be 100% SURE that your helper really did steal. Is your MIL elderly? Is she prone to exaggeration? Could she have mis-understood?
You definitely don't want someone (who is probably in huge debt) to lose her job if it's on a flimsy accusation.
 
Is your MIL living with you ? at the end, everybody will feel bad from now. You, because you don't know if you can trust her, and if you talk to her about it, she will be resentful toward your MIL. If you fire her without knowing and that she is innoncent (maybe she paid for the things she took but your MIL didn't understand it ?), you'll feel terrible too.
Do you like her ? is she doing a good job for your family ? so talk to her, and let her know you don't accept this kind of behaviour, should it happen in the future.
 
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