Anyone have a similar situation?

[atticusblue]

My Thai girlfriend recently signed-on to a Thai/Hungary government-sponsored labor arrangement whereby she got a job in Hungary for a specified period of time. She has been unable to obtain suitable work in Thailand as she is over 35 and has no skills other than the usual, i.e., Thai massage, hair cutter and cooking. Her airfare to Hungary was paid for by her employer which is a large hotel chain which has several hotels in Bkk and Thailand. She states that she that she is paid much less than promised and she ofcourse misses Thailand as she's never travelled abroad as far as Europe. She thinks she can come home in a couple of months thereby cutting short her unsatisfactory experience. My guess is that she's legally obliged to stay in Hungary until her employer allows her to either break or complete the eight month contract. Anyone have a similar experience?

[..]

Well, of course the obvious answer is that if they are paying her less than is stated in the contract, then the contract is already broken and therefore void. But my thoughts are that she just did not read the contract before it was signed and that this is not true (i.e., they are paying what they are legally obliged to).

 

However, what is stopping her from just walking away? Do they have possession of her passport? If so, why can't she just go to the local Thai Embassy, report it stolen, get another and come home? Or does she not have the money for a ticket? Fallout? Not much I would think as I am sure that they would not persue restitution for a broken contract in Thai courts. Or does the employer have Thai agents who may insinuate to be connected to "dark influences" who threaten her or her family?

 

Way too may questions still out there to give a proper answer.

 

Cheers,

SD

[shygye]

Maybe the employer is charging her for room and board, that is causing her to clear less money. Or it could just be taxes.

 

I am sure Hungary does not allow indentured servitude.

[dddave]

Virtually all of the officialy sanctioned, overseas labor contracters are well placed Thai politicians or their family members, thus the Thai embassy may well be less than helpful.

 

I agree with Shyguy that there were probably a host of "deductions" in the contracts small print.

 

If she does break her contract and manage to return to Thailand, she will be blacklisted and never again have a chance at an overseas job.

[Old Hippie]

My guess is there will be some leagle consequences if she breaks the contract. What type of work is she supposedly doing?

[kamui]

Have you ever seen the contract? Maybe it is time that you show it to a professional (lawyer?) to find a legal way out.

[BuffHello]

almost all these guys and girls who go abroad to work get ripped in one way or another by the agencies.

i know thais who went to Taiwan and came back 2 years later with very little money. it gets taken in various little ways ,contract fees .

etc .the gov' was supposed to be cracking down on these crooked agencies but dont hold breath

[David_66_UK]

Hungary is in the EU.

 

The EU for all it faults, does not do indentured slavery.

 

Your G/F is either getting illegally ripped off (quite possible) or has a shitty contract with lots of small print and legal deductions (quite likely) - and probably written in Hungarian!. - Probably both..............

 

But it could also be............. tax and social security!

 

It's a civil dispute - I really don't see the police are going to get involved to force her back to work - the only way I can see them doing anything is if her VISA is linked to her employment at a specific place and they want to deport her. But if she plans ahead this should not be a problem.

 

If she does not have her passport and I think that it is illegal for an employer to hold it, the Embassy can (and IMHO should) kick up a fuss.

 

From a practical perspective as already said if the folk have connections then she could I suppose stuff her chances of getting further work abroad, but IMHO a lot of times these "connections" to officialdom are in practice quite illusory and are usually just mentioned to keep folk quiet - especially for small scale stuff, like screwing Hotel Staff out of pay.

 

Obviously she is not locked in the Hotel and IMHO she should go and find some help and advice (not always easy I know in a foreign land), as I am guessing she speaks some English she could try and find another Hotel or place to work at, the employer (or staff) will know what the crack is with the Visa (even if she does not have her passport) and even if she goes home early, she could line up a job offer and working Visa for another trip, cutting out the middleman (and deductions).

 

If she is smart she should find out what the Visa and working rules are in Hungary and maybe become a middleman herself - hopefully an honest one............

 

Hope it goes ok for her.

[AndyCRO]

If it is all legal maybe its just that the contract showed the full pay before taxes which her employer must pay. (brutto/netto)

[atticusblue]

Thanks guys, for your opinions. I'm certain she's not sophisticated enough to read the small print and wouldn't understand it if she did. She likely saw the opportunity for what the Thai/Hungarian government was offering as gross income and grabbed it without knowing the net income. Anyway, your suggestions are useful as I'm travelling to visit her soon.