Fired and being accused of stealing. Any recourse?

[Anonymous]

She did say in another post that she took nothing of theirs. Did you miss that?

[Anonymous]

OP, you should go for the unemployment. But you can get a 20 minute complimentary appointment with an employment lawyer who can give you some simple legal advice for free.

[Anonymous]

This is great info, PP. please provide links to a lawyer or service that provides this free legal advice. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a contract? Are you paid legally (i.e. above-board with taxes withheld)?

We have a list of rules a regulations but no, I wasn't paid above the table so I guess i'm pretty screwed.

You can still file for unemployment. The state will go after the family for not paying nanny taxes, and regardless of a contract you can still claim it.

Yes, okay, she can do that.

The question is, is the hassle worth it? In most cases it won't be. Filing for unemployment when you're paid legally is reasonably straightforward - pursuing it when your employers have been dodging taxes - and also being liable for your own unpaid taxes - is a much nastier process. OP, you do have the right to pursue it but it may not be worth the time and expense (did you save up enough to pay back the taxes you'll owe?) to do so.

You would also be now liable for back state and federal taxes and ss/medicare tax from Jan to Sept of this year - may cost you more than you'd make in unemployment benefits.

This is incorrect. The nanny would be liable for her income taxes, yes. However, when an employer fails to withhold SS/medicare taxes, they then become responsible for both the employer and employee portions of this tax. That might not be the case if they were to file & submit it before a certain deadline, but if they miss the deadline then it is most definitely the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is great info, PP. please provide links to a lawyer or service that provides this free legal advice. Thanks!

Are you the OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a contract? Are you paid legally (i.e. above-board with taxes withheld)?

We have a list of rules a regulations but no, I wasn't paid above the table so I guess i'm pretty screwed.

You can still file for unemployment. The state will go after the family for not paying nanny taxes, and regardless of a contract you can still claim it.

Yes, okay, she can do that.

The question is, is the hassle worth it? In most cases it won't be. Filing for unemployment when you're paid legally is reasonably straightforward - pursuing it when your employers have been dodging taxes - and also being liable for your own unpaid taxes - is a much nastier process. OP, you do have the right to pursue it but it may not be worth the time and expense (did you save up enough to pay back the taxes you'll owe?) to do so.

You would also be now liable for back state and federal taxes and ss/medicare tax from Jan to Sept of this year - may cost you more than you'd make in unemployment benefits.

This is incorrect. The nanny would be liable for her income taxes, yes. However, when an employer fails to withhold SS/medicare taxes, they then become responsible for both the employer and employee portions of this tax. That might not be the case if they were to file & submit it before a certain deadline, but if they miss the deadline then it is most definitely the case.

Thank you very much for providing a correction. The poster you corrected has a chip on her shoulder, so she keeps coming back with her scare tactics.

[Anonymous]

I'm a lawyer with experience in tax and whether PP is posting scare tactics or not, the info she/he is posting is correct. OP would be liable for both unpaid federal and state taxes, plus possibly interest penalties for not paying them on time. While I doubt they would do so, the IRS has the right to pursue criminal penalties for not paying taxes, which would result in legal fees too. I am not sure about social security/medicare taxes, as I have no experience in that, but federal and state taxes are a much higher percentage of income that payroll taxes anyway, so those are the ones I'd be worried about.

As for a consultation with an employment lawyer- a nanny/employer relationship is a an at-will relationship. That means the employer can fire the nanny for any reason or no reason at all. If you can find an employment lawyer who is willing to do a free consultation, it couldn't hurt, but your employer has every right to fire you with or without cause.

[Anonymous]

I believe the issue has become collecting unemployment.

[Anonymous]

You can't collect unemployment if you were fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't collect unemployment if you were fired.

You're confused. You can't collect unemployment if you quit.

[Anonymous]

Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which is it?

You can't collect unemployment if you quit OR if you are fired for cause. You can collect if you are fired without cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is it?

You can't collect unemployment if you quit OR if you are fired for cause. You can collect if you are fired without cause.

That is a myth
you can quit if you were working in a hostile work environment, but then you have to prove this
You can be fired for cause and still get unemployment. The department of labor descides who can receive benefits, not your employer. Your employer has to prove it was for cause and satisfy the dept of labor rules.

So in practice nannies get unemployment benefits even when they were paid under the table. The story about stealing is not grounds for dept of labor to deny benefits when there is no proof. If there was proof the police would get involved and prosecute.

So this is good news for the nanny, not for the family that does the firing. The family gets caught in not paying the taxes owed and their insurance premiums for unemployment go up after they have done the firing.

In practice you can be fired without cause, but most prefer not to do so