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My husband and I are Live-In Caregivers for a 48 year old Paranoid Schizophrenic. We have been here for 6 months. Our client is currently non-compliant and his guardian has decided to hire non live in psychiatric care for him. The problem is, they are giving us only 1 week to move. We gave up everything we had for this job, we have nowhere to go. It is absolutely impossible for us to move in a week. What are our rights?
Hello j:
They can FIRE you tomorrow.. But, if they want you OUT of your quarters, they're going to have to EVICT you according the state law... That GENERALLY begins with a 30 day WRITTEN notice to vacate..
I'd write them a certified letter, return receipt requested, informing them of the law, and your intention to be out at a date certain..
excon
If you were tenants with a rental agreement you would have to be given 15 days notice in FL and then evicted if you didn't leave. But as employees you can be fired and notice is not required. However, the law gets cloudy if you don't leave, and you can't be locked out or thrown out, and a court will be especially sympathetic since you weren't bad employees. So it is in all your interest to negotiate for something more normal, like 15 to 30 days. The live-out helper doesn't even need your space. Promise to start packing and proving that you are looking and trying to get out. Alternatively the employer could pay you to stay in a short term rental as a severance pay.
You didn't get a written contract with termination terms? And who was it who needed psychiatric care?Quote:
Originally Posted by jennalbrecht
No there is no contract. We asked for one early in the employ, but we did not force it. We have worked here 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for the last 6 months. We have had 0 time off - except when our client was Baker Acted 1 week ago. It is our client that needs the licensed psychiatric care. We were hired to take care of his daily living needs, but he has become non compliant with taking his psych meds, etc... He is extremely difficult to deal with. However, with all the "time" that we gave them and the things we had to deal with while in their employ, I cannot believe they expect us to move in 1 week.Quote:
Originally Posted by AK lawyer
ExCon,Quote:
Originally Posted by excon
Are you certain of this?
JennAlbrecht
[QUOTE=joypulv;3277640]If you were tenants with a rental agreement you would have to be given 15 days notice in FL and then evicted if you didn't leave. But as employees you can be fired and notice is not required. However, the law gets cloudy if you don't leave, and you can't be locked out or thrown out, and a court will be especially sympathetic since you weren't bad employees. So it is in all your interest to negotiate for something more normal, like 15 to 30 days. The live-out helper doesn't even need your space. Promise to start packing and proving that you are looking and trying to get out. Alternatively the employer could pay you to stay in a short term rental as a severance pay.[/QUOTE
Thank you. Very helpful.
I'm guessing Excon missed that you are in Florida, which only requires 14 days notice to evict.Quote:
Originally Posted by jennalbrecht
Hello again, jenna:Quote:
Originally Posted by jennalbrecht
Yes, and no... The problem here is that there is a mixture of employment law, and landlord/tenant law... We're very good here, but you can see that even we have a divergent opinion...
So, I don't know how this would turn out LEGALLY... Although Florida is not especially tenant friendly, I cannot believe a judge would put you on the street...
But, THAT'S the key. My advice was geared toward SOLVING the situation WITHOUT it ever being heard by a judge... In THAT respect, you have TIME on your side. If a lawsuit is filed the DAY the new people ordered you out, it'll be 45 days before it'll be heard by a judge. I imagine you'll be LONG gone by then, and if you do it right, there won't even BE a lawsuit filed...
Which brings me to my NEXT thought... Who's going to file an eviction lawsuit against you?? The nut?? Probably not.. His family?? Do they OWN the house? The new people?? Nahhh, they have NO authority..
Given the above, it would SEEM to me that you could negotiate a settlement with WHOMEVER, that will give you ample time to vacate, and maybe even a few bucks with which to do it... At THIS point in time, this has MORE to do with your negotiation skills, than it does the law...
However, you go about it, do it by CERTIFIED mail, return receipt requested... If it EVER winds up in front of a judge, you want documentation as to what occurred.
If you have a few more details, we might have more specific advice..
excon
excon,
Thank you for you advice. Extremely helpful! The only person that I can think of that might file Eviction proceedings would be our client's GUARDIAN. Wouldn't she have POA? Our Client is maintained by a Trust and the person who cares for that is located in Maryland. He is a family friend (supposedly) and retired accountant. He takes care of all the household bills, our pay, etc... One of the many things that is supposed to be included in our employment, is that they provide all food for us and the client. In the beginning, they were only giving us $100.00 for the 3 of us for 2 weeks. No where near enough to maintain 3 grown adults. I finally, after weeks of pleading, was able to get them to $200.00. My husband and I had to buy food numerous amounts of time for us and our client. I saved all receipts. They promised to pay us back 1/3 of the total. They never have. This is not right, since we were promised that all food was included.
My main question is: Should we hire an Attorney of our own? They have one on retainer locally and I know they are going to use her to try and scare us with big legal words. The more I think about this situation, the more I think we should get one ASAP.
Thanks!
Jenn A.
Hello again, Jen:Quote:
Originally Posted by jennalbrecht
POA?? Maybe and maybe not... That's why I brought it up.. I'll be NOBODY has the right to evict you...
In terms of hiring a lawyer, this is, at BEST, a small claims matter... Lawyer's aren't even allowed in there... Besides, you've got us... We know big words too. If it EVER get's the point of legal action being taken, maybe you can consider it then... Like I said above, right now this is a matter for negotiation, not legal action...
excon
Excon,Quote:
Originally Posted by excon
I'm sorry... I meant Power of Attorney. Thank you so much for being in our corner. From 1 ExCon to another... it means a lot. We have been trying so hard to do all the "right" things for the past 6 years and it seems we keep getting "kicked around." I guess Karma really is a Mother... " for lack of better words. I am just SO angry that they are doing all of this, when we gave up so much to help them out. Now we have nothing and they want us to move in 1 week? They even had the nerve to suggest we check out this trashy trailer park down the road that is being shut down by Code Enforcement and the Board of Health. They figure we can move in there... CHEAP. I cannot even believe that the Social Worker (he is the one that fired us) had the NERVE to even suggest that. We do not even know why we are being asked to leave, except that the Social Worker said they needed to bring in more specialized help. Is that specialized help going to do his nasty laundry, make sure he bathes, brushes his teeth, fix his meals? I do not think so. He told us they were not even going to have a live in any more? How can that be? He is NOT capable of living on his own.
Jenn A.
This changes the picture.Quote:
Originally Posted by jennalbrecht
You first said that the person who is firing you was your "client"'s guardian. That suggested a relative or somebody who went to court and got the court to rule that the person was in need of someone to look out for him. If it were a guardian, he or she wouldn't need a POA, by the way.
But you're now saying it's a social worker, i.e.: a public employee. If that's the case, it changes the situation entirely.
I was puzzled by what you said earlier: he's non-compliant with his meds so the decision has been made that he doesn't need 24-hour care. That's counter-intuative. One would think he would need more, not less care in that case.
But in any rate, if it's social services that is involved, by all means get an attorney to look into it. It could be that you need an attorney to talk to them and, as Excon suggests, negotiate. Or, if the carrot approach doesn't work, you might have to use the stick: going to court to get the judge to decide that this decision is ill-advised.
I suspect that by being non med compliant he lost a certain sphere of gov't sanctioned care.
The plan might now have to be a licensed caregiver at a higher rate of pay. It might be caregivers, plural.
The person who actually came to the house and told us that we were being let go was the private Social Worker who looks in on our "Clients" case (when the Trust Acct. and Guardian are willing to pay his hourly fee). I am sure there was a meeting between the Guardian (I do not know how she became appointed. She is not a relation and she is also an Accountant, by trade. Apparently, she does Guardianship "on the side" because we found out she has other clients that she has Guardianship over. She has no business being our clients guardian. She is completely and totally inept when it comes to his DX and TX.), the Private Social Worker, the Attorney, and the Trust Accountant. I agree... the reason that he gave us for our termination makes absolutely no sense. He is in need of 24 hour per day care. I am starting to believe that they think I am not very smart. I have news for them...Quote:
Originally Posted by AK lawyer
Our client is still in the Psychiatric Center and calls us 2 or more times daily. What the "Social Worker" wants is for us to be out of the house before our client is released and comes home. This is just not feasible. Even if we had all the money in the world at our disposal and unlimited resources, this would still not be possible.
I am beginning to believe that these people are up to no good. The Caretaker that was here before us was an acquaintance of ours. When she was working, the Guardian had NEVER even been over to the house 1 time. There was not a Social Worker involved and the Attorney and Accountant never had a thing to say either. It was not until there were complaints in regards to the last caregiver that they became involved. Apparently, she was letting the client go all over town without any supervision. This included bars, clubs, etc... that he, as a Paranoid Schizophrenic, a Sexual Deviant, and having absolutely no social skills, should NEVER of been. I believe part of the reason that we are being asked to leave is that I know too much in how to care for the client. I am currently working on my Masters Degree in Abnormal Psychology. I think they do not like us because they are afraid of possibly being reported for one thing or another. I do not know. I am grasping at straws.
Should I call an Attorney on Monday?
Thanks!!
Jenn A.
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