Costa Rica Expertise LLC

And an employer could be just a homeowner

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Employers are suffering heavy losses in their labor court battles with employees. Judges are also clobbering employers with hefty awards to the employees to serve as a warning to bosses to stay out of court.

In one labor case, a court decree Friday surprised a retired couple. A judge ordered them to pay thousands of dollars to a guard service. The judge ruled that the proprietor of the service really was an employee and not an independent contractor. The homeowners have contracts between themselves and the guard firm to prove otherwise, but the judge discarded the documents as rubbish.

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The ultimate mediation and arbitration
. . . Paul mediates while Peter selects destination

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Q. What is the difference between a good priest and Peter at the Pearly Gates?

A. One is a mediator and the other is an arbitrator.

Most people do not know they can pick their own arbitrator in Costa Rica if they know what they are doing.

A mediator is a person who can assist two or more persons to come to an agreement but has no decision power one way or the other if they do not.

An arbitrator moderates disputes but in the end can make a decision as to who wins and who loses.

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Workplace conversations waste time and money

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Give an inch, and they’ll take a mile.

Offer a hand, and lose an arm.

These management axioms also have to do with cellular telephones. Cell phone abuse is rampant among employees.

Even someone who still does not have a cell phone is not immune from the increased numbers of them. In a movie, a restaurant, a church, or a meeting, people are using the technology and being a disturbance.

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Labor courts generally side with employees

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Many business owners have found out here in Costa Rica that if they give an inch their employees will take a mile. They must act fast to pull in the reins, particularly after a recent landmark court decision.

The labor court said that if an employer does not correct unwelcome actions by employees immediately, such actions become the rule.

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