Employees standing outside the business premises.
Some 14 employees of Fire Grill located at Rodney Bay were issued termination letters today (June 26) for failing to show up for work for almost three days.
The employees said they have not been paid on time and decided to take some action by staying away from work on Wednesday (June 24) and Thursday (June 25).
However, when they showed up for work today they were presented with termination letters.
The 14 employees are not unionised.
An employee, who spoke with St. Lucia News Online (SNO) on condition of anonymity, said the issue stemmed from workers being paid their salaries in pieces.
The male employee alleged that this has been ongoing for the past several months and every time they requested to speak with the manger about the issue she is never available.
The company which is registered under the name – The Roast Inc – said in the termination letter that a memorandum in writing dated June 24 was issued to notify staff of a possible delay in salaries.
The letter also states that moments after the memorandum was issued, employees abandoned their posts and decided to close the premises, without informing management.
“Your misconduct has been to the detriment of The Roast and your working relationship causing a significant loss of income over the past two days,” the missive states.
Managing Director of Fire Grill Anya Alexander admits that the issue was mainly because of the late payment. However, she said this has never occurred before and the staff were properly informed.
Alexander said her employees abandoned their duties and as such they were provided with termination letters for that reason only.
She said the employees will be paid their salaries once they return company property on a date specified on the termination letters.
