Former staff at a former Belfast location of a major restaurant chain are still waiting on wages they are owed almost four months after it closed.
Around 14 former employees of the Tony Macaroni site at Victoria Square said they have not received any of the outstanding money owed to them by the company despite repeated assurances that payments were imminent.
Megan Foreman, who is aged 20 and from Bangor, worked for Tony Macaroni for three years. She currently lives in Belfast, where she is a university student.
She told Belfast Telegraph it is “completely unacceptable” that the company is “attempting to ignore the fact they owe us outstanding wages”.
Miss Foreman said she is owed just over £1,700 by the company for work done at what was her primary employment. But she added that she is aware of some former colleagues who are due even higher sums than she is.
She said that many of the staff had been “left stranded” by losing their jobs, and the loss of wages owed to them has made it difficult to “ensure we could pay bills and everyday costs.”
Miss Foreman added: “This situation has brought financial hardship to us and it’s been a struggle to make ends meet.”
In a statement, Tony Macaroni told the Belfast Telegraph that the payments issue “has been brought to our attention and outstanding payment will be brought to date in the next few weeks”. The business added that it intends to reopen in Belfast.
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Staff at the Tony Macaroni restaurant in Victoria Square told Belfast Telegraph they were already missing several weeks worth of pay before June 1.
That day, the 14 staff members received an email from the company which read:
“With regret, the company has no alternative but to close the business due to a downturn in business. It is with regret, therefore, that your position with the company will become redundant on June 1.”
The email informed staff that they were entitled to various types of pay, including statutory redundancy pay, holiday payments and the wage arrears.
After the closure of the restaurant, staff waited each week in June for the payment to arrive in their accounts, but each week no money was sent to them.
Staff told the Belfast Telegraph that they began to contact people they knew who worked at Tony Macaroni’s head office to inquire about the delays to the payments.
They say they were assured that the money would be paid the following week, but this did not happen. Staff added that they began to feel “ignored by the company.”
Staff at the former Belfast Tony Macaroni restaurant have not received pay they are owed for four months
The matter continued over the summer months without further word from the company until August 26 when staff were sent another email.
That message acknowledged payments were owed to staff members and said: “We want to assure you that we are committed to resolving this matter promptly.”
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and greatly appreciate your understanding and patience during this period.”
Tony Macaroni then proposed a six week payment plan for the staff, beginning on Thursday September 5.
But at this point, staff are still yet to receive any payment from the company, and have not had further communication explaining the reason for the delay to the payment schedule outlined at the end of August.
In a response to the Belfast Telegraph’s request for comment, Tony Macaroni said the issue had been brought to its attention and that outstanding payments will be made in the coming weeks.
Tony Macaroni is a chain of Italian restaurants, headquartered in Motherwell. According to its website, it operates 14 locations in Scotland.