Doubt regarding proof of employment

[Nuzhat Ali]

I posted this query earlier but unfortunately got no reply. Here I go again.

I am a dentist who has been working as a salaried employee at a dental clinic since January 2015. The catch here is that my father in law is my employer. He is an ophthalmologist who runs his own private practice. He also has a separate charitable hospital, and runs a spectacles and eyewear business as well on the side. He opened a dental clinic in 2015 and brought in two dentists to work for him: one of them was me.
He made a reference letter for me as per the CIC guidelines. But I have always been paid in cash. I do have cash vouchers for all the years I have been working for him. Since the pay never fell into the taxable income bracket, I did not file IT returns till 2019. I have now started filing income tax returns even though it shows I do not need to pay any taxes. I realise I should have been doing this from the very beginning as it would have been a solid proof of my salaried income. I will be filing the IT returns for this year in April.
I am now left in doubt about what documents to show as employment proof. I have the reference letter and cash salary slips. I have IT return for one year. My deadline for submitting eAPR is 9 March.

If I do not mention that my employer is my father in law, will it be considered misrepresentation of facts? Showing familial relationship with the employer makes the verifiability of the employment documents questionable, as I’ve learned from other threads.
Any help or suggestions with this issue would be welcome at the earliest.

 

[Islander216]

Gratuitous side note: your father-in-law is balling.

I do not know of any requirement which states you have to disclose any information relating to whether your employer has a familial connection to you. But maybe someone else can confirm this for you. If no information is required on this, why would you disclose it?

I'm also not aware of any requirement which states your salary has to be credited to your bank, where is the issue with being paid in cash?

Just provide your employment letter in accordance with the format required, if the information is genuine i don't see where the issue is.

You can only be accused of misrepresentation for information which they ask for explicitly and for which false information is provided and you omit information which is required.

I will say that if your employer is not easily verifiable, i.e. doesn't have a web presence and is not a well know company or institution, they will scrutinize it more carefully. But if everything checks out, i don't see the issue. Just ensure the letter is printed on the letterhead of the dental clinic and all the contact details are accurate.

Although i will say, with the family information you have to provide, i'm assuming you are immigrating with your spouse, they will be able to make the connection that you're working for your FIL. So they may be more vigorous in their verification of your employment.

Does the dental clinic have any specific license to operate? Any regulatory documentation?

 

[navinball]

salary slips and tax forms are not required documents. Have your father in law write a solid exp letter with all cic requirements and you might not need these. But yeah they do conduct a Web search for employer and if his business does not pop up online you will be in trouble.

 

[Nuzhat Ali]

Gratuitous side note: your father-in-law is balling.

I do not know of any requirement which states you have to disclose any information relating to whether your employer has a familial connection to you. But maybe someone else can confirm this for you. If no information is required on this, why would you disclose it?

I'm also not aware of any requirement which states your salary has to be credited to your bank, where is the issue with being paid in cash?

Just provide your employment letter in accordance with the format required, if the information is genuine i don't see where the issue is.

You can only be accused of misrepresentation for information which they ask for explicitly and for which false information is provided and you omit information which is required.

I will say that if your employer is not easily verifiable, i.e. doesn't have a web presence and is not a well know company or institution, they will scrutinize it more carefully. But if everything checks out, i don't see the issue. Just ensure the letter is printed on the letterhead of the dental clinic and all the contact details are accurate.

Although i will say, with the family information you have to provide, i'm assuming you are immigrating with your spouse, they will be able to make the connection that you're working for your FIL. So they may be more vigorous in their verification of your employment.

Does the dental clinic have any specific license to operate? Any regulatory documentation?

I am unsure about the type of regulatory documents my FIL has at the moment. Would I be expected to show any of it? Considering I’m not the owner of the establishment.

For now I have included an LOE that mentions the fact that my employer is my father in law. I honestly don’t want to bring it up though, because as far as I’m concerned, the two things are totally unrelated. I haven’t sent in my application yet. The only reason I am considering attaching the LOE is so that in case I’m sent an ADR later, I can’t be held responsible for not revealing that I was employed by a relative.

What do you suggest here? Do I or do I not mention he’s related?

 

[Nuzhat Ali]

salary slips and tax forms are not required documents. Have your father in law write a solid exp letter with all cic requirements and you might not need these. But yeah they do conduct a Web search for employer and if his business does not pop up online you will be in trouble.

My father in law has a website for his clinic, and there’s also a separate website for the dental clinic I work in. Plus, my father in law is a renowned professional in his field and has an extensive online presence. Although there’s not much info online that connects him to the dental clinic, except for the website of the clinic itself. Do you think that’s enough source material?

 

[navinball]

My father in law has a website for his clinic, and there’s also a separate website for the dental clinic I work in. Plus, my father in law is a renowned professional in his field and has an extensive online presence. Although there’s not much info online that connects him to the dental clinic, except for the website of the clinic itself. Do you think that’s enough source material?

The contact info and the address in the website must match the exp letter. Then you are good to go.

 

[Islander216]

I am unsure about the type of regulatory documents my FIL has at the moment. Would I be expected to show any of it? Considering I’m not the owner of the establishment.

For now I have included an LOE that mentions the fact that my employer is my father in law. I honestly don’t want to bring it up though, because as far as I’m concerned, the two things are totally unrelated. I haven’t sent in my application yet. The only reason I am considering attaching the LOE is so that in case I’m sent an ADR later, I can’t be held responsible for not revealing that I was employed by a relative.

What do you suggest here? Do I or do I not mention he’s related?

No, i don't think you're expected to show it, but they may want to cross-check the clinic with a list of certified or licensed clinics in the country. Their concern would be how do we know this is a legitimate operation? So they would have to find a way to verify the clinic's credentials. If i were in your position, i'd be reassured to know if the clinic i worked for would show up on a list such as that.

Honestly, i think it would good for your disclose for yourself, so it's not something you're stressing about. I fundamentally don't think it changes the parameters of your application, except for the fact they will be a bit more vigilant in vetting the clinic. In the larger scheme of things, i don't think it makes a difference whether you highlight it or not.

If the dental clinic has a web presence and there are contact details, i don't think it should be an issue.

Do you have a superior at the clinic other than your FIL?