Greg Overton - Do not work for this man.

srp · Post by **srp** » Sat May 19, 2007 5:59 pm

I was temporarily employed by a man named Greg Overton last fall. The employment ended before I signed a contract. This man has promised me for six months that he will 'pay me in the next few days,' or 'pay me when he has money in his account.' This man ran a company which provided Finnish elementary schools with extracurricular English learning classes. Now his phone 'doesn't accept any incoming calls.' I have asked him sincerely, person to person, to please pay me the money because I need it. I have tried to pester him with phone calls, to which he angrily responded. I doubt there is any chance I can ever receive my money, but I just want to warn others that Greg Overton is not an honest business man.

**Sponsor:**

Pilvii · Post by **Pilvii** » Sat May 19, 2007 7:27 pm

Even a signed contact doesn't seem to matter to some people these days

I was given a contract for a 12-month 'maternity leave cover' - teaching English. The other teacher unfortunately lost her baby and I thought my contact would be cancelled. I had to go and see the principal about this ... he didn't think it was important enough to approach me about.

My employer told me - contract cancelled, we can give you part-time work. I told him that I had extended leave from my job at home (which couldn't be cancelled/changed) to complete his contract, and that part-time work wasn't sufficient. I told him that I would find out what my rights were.. as an employee. He told me 'You have no rights.. besides, **I know people**'. Hmmmm

I was in contact with the 'Work Protection Office' twice and apparently he has to pay me the full 12 months of wages - if I take him to court. Now, I would rather go home than work in that place.....
I could take him to court - but also could be forced to complete my contact. He keeps refusing to contact the 'Work Protection Office' - saying that the 'Employers Association' told him that I have no legal rights in this situation and its not worth speaking to anyone about this.

I am not suggesting that he was trying to play the 'foreigner-card' - but he claims that because my contact is ONLY in English, thats another reason its not valid.

Just be careful of your rights and follow everything up...

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sat May 19, 2007 7:34 pm

Well, your work permit isn't tied to that workplace; so get another teaching job.

The bit of the contract not being valid as it is only in English is hogwash, to the extent a verbal contract is already binding... I think he is just trying to pull a fast one...

Pilvii · Post by **Pilvii** » Sat May 19, 2007 7:38 pm

Hank W. wrote:Well, your work permit isn't tied to that workplace; so get another teaching job.

The bit of the contract not being valid as it is only in English is hogwash, to the extent a verbal contract is already binding... I think he is just trying to pull a fast one...

Yeah, I know that I don't have to work *there*. Its funny though - he's the same guy that fought the 'Employment Office' to help me get the permit in the first place!!

I think things are going downhill (fast!!) at the school anyhow - we've had 2 teachers resign, the registrar is retiring early, another teacher is out on 'stress leave' and 4 other teachers are looking for new jobs.

I would hope not all schools are the same as this one!

Pity I have to lose money looking for a new job though....

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sat May 19, 2007 11:16 pm

srp wrote:I was temporarily employed by a man named Greg Overton last fall. The employment ended before I signed a contract. This man has promised me for six months that he will 'pay me in the next few days,' or 'pay me when he has money in his account.' This man ran a company which provided Finnish elementary schools with extracurricular English learning classes. Now his phone 'doesn't accept any incoming calls.' I have asked him sincerely, person to person, to please pay me the money because I need it. I have tried to pester him with phone calls, to which he angrily responded. I doubt there is any chance I can ever receive my money, but I just want to warn others that Greg Overton is not an honest business man.

My understanding is that if you were working for him then there was a contract... whether it was written down or not. If he was working for the local municapality then you should call them (the koulutuskeskus is the place) and inform them of his dishonesty. You should also report him to vero (the tax authorities) and KELA (dept health and social security). There were some cases in Helsinki where some kitchen staff working in a restaurant were in a similar situation (no contract, no pay) and their "employer" was succesfully arrested, convicted and ordered to pay compensation.

Don't let him get away with it.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sat May 19, 2007 11:44 pm

Pilvii wrote: - we've had 2 teachers resign, the registrar is retiring early, another teacher is out on 'stress leave' and 4 other teachers are looking for new jobs.

sounds lotsa fun...

Gigi · Post by **Gigi** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:24 am

Did you contact already OAJ and your school's luottamusmies?

Pilvii · Post by **Pilvii** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:43 am

Gigi wrote:Did you contact already OAJ and your school's luottamusmies?

The luottamusmies - yes. OAJ - no.

Like I said - I think being made to work here if the contract is found to be valid would be much worse. I still think it stinks though... I wonder if he would do the same to his Finnish employees

Windya · Post by **Windya** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:22 pm

srp wrote:I was temporarily employed by a man named Greg Overton last fall. The employment ended before I signed a contract. This man has promised me for six months that he will 'pay me in the next few days,' or 'pay me when he has money in his account.' This man ran a company which provided Finnish elementary schools with extracurricular English learning classes. Now his phone 'doesn't accept any incoming calls.' I have asked him sincerely, person to person, to please pay me the money because I need it. I have tried to pester him with phone calls, to which he angrily responded. I doubt there is any chance I can ever receive my money, but I just want to warn others that Greg Overton is not an honest business man.

I agree!!!! Dont work for this man! I have heard many bad things about him and how he is dishonest against his employees. Not paying the wages in time and chewing them out for no reason.. Apparently he´s been doing this for a while since the first post was written 2007...

richard berman · Post by **richard berman** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:04 pm

MagicJ · Post by **MagicJ** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:39 pm

Maybe as this thread has been going for 5 years and he still hasn't changed his ways the thread title should contain his name. Can admin do that if the OP is not around?

katjves · Post by **katjves** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:50 pm

I worked for Greg in 2010 and he consistently paid me late, promised me more hours but would not deliver and was very rude when i would complain. When i tried to quit he said i legally could not because the contract i signed bound me to the job for another 2 months. He also told me that if i broke the contract i would need to pay the company any "losses and damages" caused by my breaching of the contract. However, he had already breached the contract by not paying me on the day stated on the contract. Luckily a lawyer agreed and i was able to leave the job (with no pay!).

richard berman · Post by **richard berman** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:27 pm

After school English clubs

tony webb · Post by **tony webb** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:26 pm

Interesting thread. I worked for this man in 2011.
He promised to pay me but held back for 3 months. When he did pay me he stopped 60% tax even though I gave him my tax card.
He also promised as much work as I wanted. In reality it was 2.25 hrs per week. I did do some extra hours but he would phone at the last minute and expect me to drop everything. One day I had a more urgent appointment and couldn't work. He went bezerk.
I also went to vero and because it was a small amount they weren't interested!

To cut a long story short I've been penalised by vero for taxes this year because they say that he said that he refunded the tax which he didn't. I have proof of this but once again vero aren't interested as it is only a small amount. well 100€ is a lot to me!

Skipping payments · Post by **Skipping payments** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:55 am

We are not alone!!! Same pattern and behavior when he could not pay his lease for 9 Months. "Do not worry, I will pay next month ... I will pay ..." and never lived up to his promises. Also left the house in a terrible mess. We should have checked his credit references, which would have told it all ... I would suggest that it goes beyond "...not being an honest businessman".

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