Hi there, I'm in a bit of a messy situation now.
I worked at a learning institution in Hong Kong, to give a little background about the company it is a international franchise with stations in many countries. It is a small business here, staff ranges from 4 workers and 2 directors, and I've only ever heard that they had 7 maximum. It's a terrible job, long hours and unprofessional work environment ( The director talks badly of coworkers to others and creates a negative environment ). Employees are overworked, and underpaid and the time schedule is demanding.
I worked there a little bit ago, for about 3 months and signed a contract with a notice period of 6 months of payment of salary in lieu of notice. I do understand I shouldn't have signed a contract without the commitment to stay, however was offered a 1 off opportunity to pursue my studies. In turn I made the decision to go abroad to continue my education as I am still quite young. I am below 20 years old and naive to the realities of the work life in Hong Kong and blindly signed the contract. In hindsight I should have negotiated the contract from the start, or not have signed it at all.
Regrettably, I am in a situation where my last employer is now threatening to sue me if I do not pay. I worked for 3 months and my employer is demanding 6 months pay! I had informed my employer I would be leaving around 3-4 weeks into the job, and handed in a resignation 2 months later. Now realising how I should have done that earlier, my employer never acknowledge the verbal communication and didn't count the 1 month of notice.
I know I signed a contract, however have felt that this is unfair treatment and that the 6 months label on the contract may be a tactic the business is using to force people to work there. Previous and current staff have complained about how they only stayed because of the contract, and all have handed in their resignations to only wait 6 months and work the job they hate. At the start of the job they don't give you a realistic view of the workload, and once you realise what the job is actually like the 2 week probation is up and you are bound by contract. I am also peeved about having to pay the money when 1) I provided 4-5 weeks preparatory work to the new employee, provided training even when it was not stated in my contract and even moved my last day of work to help the new employee train. Another reason is 2) another employee was in a similar situation, they signed the contract but soon realised that the job was not worth the money and opted out. He handed in his resignation and could leave after working for free for his last two months. ( In total 4 months work and 2 month notice ). I brought this up with my employer and said that the contract could be nullified by unfair treatment by employer with the labour department, but this didn't seem to stick. And 3) I believe he is being unfair to me and not treating my coworkers and I equally.
The last contact with my employer was when he took my last months pay ( so technically I only got paid for 2 months and he's demanding 6 months pay ) and asked me to sign acknowledging, he said that whether the " shareholders " choose to sue me will be up to them, but I know he's full of it. I feel that he blames the companies losses on me, but it all leads back to being understaffed as other coworkers left when I did too ( with 3 having given notice, and 1 given better treatment) and the job ended up having the two bosses there and 2 coworkers left, no one else wanted to join.
I had contact with my employer over a communications app, however flew abroad and deleted it ( Not to cut off communication, but because it was redundant ) and over email ( however blocked their email because I didn't want any future contact ) but the threat of being sued still lingers.
I do not have this kind of money, and am studying a course that is too challenging and time consuming to work a part time job. My family would never pay this money, and may even drop me out of school if they find out so I cannot tell them. So I am stuck. I am currently abroad, can't afford to fly back.
I am worried about being sued, and if I ever returned to Hong Kong they would arrest me on the spot ( dependent for a few more years ), I am afraid of pursuing a permanent residence status now as I only have 2 years to go ), I am also afraid of them somehow finding where I went and getting me deported from the country and overall losing my education. Is this possible? Are these fears actually rational for the sum I owe and would they really go to such lengths? If so, how do they do this?
Any advise or tips on the process they would go through, the feasibility of them actually suing me, and how I should proceed? Is it possible to just not reply and not have any business with them? Should I just ignore it? ( The sum they are demanding is around 6.5USD) They also offered instalments which are 1k each for 6 1/2 months but this is impossible.
Thanks and sorry for the long message... I really hope to hear tips soon as I'm getting anxious. And please don't tell me this is my own fault, I know it is and have repeatedly told myself this. I would just like to hear what other people think and any advice. Thanks