In our work at the UHR, we often come face to face with dishonest employers. We often act after the event, when labour rights are already being violated, when the employer has already cheated us 🫠
HOWEVER, there are a few things one can do to make it harder for an employer to take advantage of us. So we have put together some advice from our experience in helping you – the employees.
Here are some good practices:
🔴 NEVER agree to sign a contract for a different number of hours or FTE than your actual hours;
🔴 CHECK that your boss is actually paying Social Security contributions for you;
🔴 NEVER agree to hand over money under the table and other rates than those included in the contract – if the employer does not pay you, you have no evidence of the agreed salary;
🔴 DO NOT AGREE to perform job duties other than those agreed upon [i.e. a cook should not also be a waiter, a barmaid should not do accounting and so on];
🔴 DOCUMENT your WORK HOURS, especially if you are working overtime [just take a photo of the hours list];
🔴 DO NOT SIGN the hours list if it does not agree with the number of hours you have worked;
🔴 REPORT, document and respond to bullying;
🔴 WATCH whether your boss complies with leave and sickness regulations
🔴 DO NOT sign a termination notice that is not in line with how you are terminating your cooperation with your employer;
🔴 DOCUMENT everything if you work in bad conditions: recordings, photos, scans will be very useful in the Employment Court;
🔴 WRITE a complaint to the State Labour Inspectorate against your former employer – this can save more people from bad employment conditions;
And above all:
❗❗ Join a trade union! This safeguards your rights and gives you the opportunity to assert your rights ❗❗❗