Handling Disputes
Setting
Love triangles, theft, insubordination, intimidation, I have to deal with it all. The solution is mostly arrived at in the same style:
Like pretty much all over the world (at least on paper), employee rights are well protected in The Netherlands. So much so that employees sometimes seem to feel entitled to pretty much everything they can imagine. Obviously they also seem inspired by ‘legal aid’ / ‘Labour Office’ where the employer seems to be guilty unless proven innocent; a tactic that clearly must work with a large percentage of overworked entrepreneurs who really don’t want to be bogged down with yet another distraction and therefore prefer to pay up.
My Take
Having received a fair number of menacing lawyer letters I can honestly say that I am not easily intimidated, I am however surprised at how few clarifications seem to be requested before firing a broadside at that scourge: the employer. I understand that a lawyer has to fight for his client, but reading at the very least the employment contract would not seem amiss.
Again (see model employer) building up a good ‘dossier’ and remaining calm is vital: document every step you take and involve the person’s manager, do this even when nothing untoward is happening yet, you might need it later. The beauty of a good dossier is, when a dispute arises, you can keep your cool: possible inaccuracies in the telling of history can easily be laid bare.
See also: