Posts from Splinter in thread „The man in the hut opposite our house“

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from Rice

    I believe that at this very moment, he’s packing his tv and snacks, getting ready to move in with Marc & Adri. It’s so cozy in front of the log burner, and he can keep an even better lookout for criminals from this new vantage point.


    Plus, he can be first in line for the next asado.

    God forbid!

    Actually, we fired him about 18 months ago and just so he wouldn't sue us, the residents paid him for six months and I hope we never see him again.

    It's the end of a bizarre episode which saw the old hut demolished, a new one built at vast expense (used for one day) only to be demolished 18 months later.

    It's been decided that we can't afford to pay for this kind of security and so we are asking the council for more security cameras to be installed.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from GlasgowJohn

    Will they chop the trees down as well?

    I don't think so.


    Quote from serafina

    That street is dangerous to cyclist during weekends. There are cars and bikes and it is narrow.

    I doubt all the bicycles will fit in the dedicated lane, though. I remember swarms of bikes during the weekend in summer.

    It is a very dangerous street and the cyclists, who think they have the right of way everywhere, don't help.

    Going, gone!

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Well, finally the group of residents agreed that he must go and he was given the news on Saturday with an agreement that he will receive pay for six months while he looks for employment.

    It's pretty clear that the 'sleeping incident' was the catalyst that spurred this on and finally opened their eyes to the scam they were all ignoring. I'm just glad that I don't have to set eyes on him again.

    It is of course possible that his family will push him to take further action, such are the employment laws here, so we'll have to see how it goes.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    All great ideas, but firing him for whatever reason would still trigger his money grabbing and greedy instincts, not to mention the law being on his side whatever happens.

    Using the new Covid lockdown and his health are the perfect way to keep him away. In fact, one of the residents is spelling it out to him today.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from Rice

    This has always seemed completely insane to me. We have friends who simply could no longer afford to pay for someone to regularly clean their house. Yet they had to pay their long-time cleaning woman for an additional year, with no cleaning, in order to comply with the law.


    But if someone is working en negro, wouldn’t that person be voluntarily giving up the legal protections of working en blanco? Not paying income taxes, yet ???

    Nope, they are legally protected even in casual labour. The onus is on the 'employer' each and every time, so it's a no-win for us and a win win for the casual employee every time.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from Rice

    I’m very surprised that people who choose to work en negro would have the same legal protections as those who work en blanco.


    How does that work?

    If you fire them they can sue you for a month's wages for every year they've worked for you plus holidays and a pile of other extras. If you don't want them anymore and let it drag on, the problem simply snowballs with the end result being even worse.

    Many don't want to work in 'white' because they will lose their government subsidies like social security (plans), but to pay a security man as an employee is ridiculously expensive.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    The fat man doesn't like his new working conditions one bit, mainly because he's no longer out of sight. But wait, there are new developments...

    Last week, as I was leaving on my bike for some deliveries, I noticed that he was fast asleep at 1330, so stopped to take a photo of him. On my return at 1630, he was still asleep so I recorded Adri walking over to shout at him to wake him up. Long story short, we posted both on the residents' Whatsapp group which caused a great deal of anger, considering how much he is being paid to sleep on the job. One of the leading residents went over later and read the riot act to him, telling him in no uncertain terms that if it happens again, he's out.

    It's also important to know that we have been trying to normalise (legalise) his employment situation which includes a life assurance policy since he is a health risk, having already had a heart attack, albeit at home. If he died on the job, we'd have a serious problem. But of course, he prefers cash in hand as it keeps him under the radar and doesn't affect his ability to collect government hand outs.

    But the other day, as the new hut builder came to see me about our chimney, fat man told the builder that if we try to normalise his status, he would sue us all for every penny he could get and he would probably win under the laws that massively favour those with less resources.

    That is now seen as a threat and he has now become persona non grata and so, under the veil of Covid 19/lockdown etc, today he will told not to come back for the foreseeable future.

    Meanwhile, we now have to tackle the prickly subject of his rights and believe me, people like him have those rights and they know it, even though they would prefer to work 'in black'.

    Anyway, I'm rejoicing in the fact that the consensus is to boot him out and I'm hoping I won't ever have to see or hear the lazy piece of shit ever again.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    I understand the neighbours are still paying him while he's not there. This is mainly because the law in this country falls heavily in favour of the 'employee', regardless of their contractual situation, if you get my drift.

    We don't pay him because it's a complete waste of money.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Finally the electricity was disconnected from the old hut and connected to the new one by the power company and this morning the alarm man disconnected the siren, search lights and machine guns from the old hut for placing on the new one.

    We are hoping that the builder will arrive today or tomorrow because he intends to put a rope around the wooden hut, attach it to his truck and drag it to the ground.

    That will certainly be a Kodak moment.

    The fat layabout has been sent home until the pandemic restrictions become clearer, which makes no difference to security anyway, so it makes you wonder about the sanity of the whole exercise in the first place.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from serafina

    I had the pleasure to see the new hut with my own eyes today. I was afraid I would get caught leaving a suspicious bag in @Splinter's front garden. However, the hut was empty, the advertising TECHOS was very neat and highly visible.

    I was quite disappointed I couldn't see also the man... perhaps he is not appreciating the gift he was given...?

    He was probably asleep :shoot-me:

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    A roofing contractor working on a neighbour's house offered to build it for free (no labour charge) providing he could put advertising on the walls. We all threw in our share for the materials, but I don't think the council is aware of the conditions, i.e. advertising.

    I don't like the damn thing one bit, but I'm outvoted.

  • The man in the hut opposite our house

    Quote from serafina

    Ahahaha!


    He could ask for toll, too! I see many business opportunities!

    Sorted!

    There was a delay for permission to be granted, not to mention the rain. Anyway, it should be finished this week and I shall definitely be recording the destruction of the old shed which will be demolished and removed by the local council. In fact, the council were very enthusiastic about getting rid of the old one and it came right from the top.