Labour Advice Needed

[Lauren R]

Hi Everyone

We are in a bit of a pickle at the moment. We were hired by a company in Feb to reburbish winders on a mine. The client paid a hefty deposit and we set about doing the job. We signed on about 11 employees last week monday on a 3 or 6 month fixed term contract. Yesterday we were advised that the client is terminating all services with our company (breach of contract on his side as he refuses to pay for anything) and now we would like to know where we stand with these employees?

What notice period do we give them and what type of serverance pay are they entitled to? We feel really bad about this as alot of the employees left other employment to come work for us.

Any advise would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much.
Lauren

[Blurock]

Was the employment contract linked to the contract with the mine?

You will of course sue the mine for breach and damages, including the employee's salaries.

[IMHO]

Interesting one that I will follow.

Meantime, my thoughts on it, as I know nothing about these things.
Why leave full time employment for a 3 or 6 month contract?
The employees will probably expect a full term payout?

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

It is a retrenchment based on operational requirements.
If the fixed term contract does not have a retrenchment clause, then the employee is entitled to be paid for the remainder of contract.
If the contract has a retrenchment clause then normal notice and severance(1week per completed year)

[Lauren R]

The employees were only hired on a 3 or 6 month contract (depending on their skill level) as this was all we needed them for. After six months we would've completed the job and walked away.
We do have a clause in the employment contracts that states that their employment can be terminated before the end date due to operational requirements. We will pay them severance pay even though most of these employees were only supposed to start work on Monday. Only 3 of the employees started work at the beginning of March. It's laughable that the client is demanding his full deposit back without us deducting for any expenses we incurred. He has given us 3 days to refund his deposit in full otherwise he will apply to the high court to have us liquidated. We have stated that we will draw up a list of expenses and deduct this from the deposit and refund the difference within 10 working days as these things take time.

Anyways, we are looking for a good litigation lawyer who can assist us in suing the client for breach of contract. Does anyone know of an excellent lawyer who is prepared to work on a contingency fee basis?