How it will work: Speaking from experience
You, the employer do not know how little it will cost you to get rid of a real headache. You the employer will have to hire a lawyer at very little cost. You, the employer feel like you have been unjustly wronged.
Your gardener, the employee, either knows someone, or will go to the labor court, but before he even gets into the court building there will be 20 people representing Labor Lawyers that will be handing out their cards and telling you, the gardener that they will represent you for free. Your gardener pays nothing for his lawyer. You will be served sometime later and it won't be quickly. The time starts on last day your gardener works, and the clock keeps on ticking you keep paying.
You, the employer say this is bullshit and do nothing or, you the employer now get scared and hire a lawyer to defend yourself. Of course it will cost you much more than it would have if you would have taken care of it right away. You will not win, because your gardener's lawyer is in kahoots with the labor court and everything is fixed ahead of time.
For something that would have cost you maybe $5000 pesos, that could turn into ten or twenty times that much. Don't fool around, this is much more serious than you think. Spend some pesos and get rid of this headache pronto. Hire a lawyer, there are plenty that know labor laws and they can help you.
This is one of the pitfalls that happen when you live in this beautiful country. Just chalk it up to experience. When ever you hire an employee understand it comes with that liability.