EMPLOYEES at the now-closed Poundbakery store on Rhyl’s High Street have said they feel “devastated and disgusted” by their treatment.
Poundbakery’s last day of business in the town was Saturday, September 5, with staff told in a redundancy letter, sent to them on the same day, that the store had become “unprofitable”.
Two staff members, who asked not to be named, have told the Journal they were given three hours’ notice of the closure, and have yet to be paid for between 40 and 50 hours’ work each.
This is despite the redundancy letter stating: “You will be paid by the company for all hours worked up to shop closure. This final payment will be made to you on September 11.”
One employee, who estimates she is owed about £450 in unpaid wages, said she is “fuming” and “raging” at having not been paid yet, and feels under “loads of pressure” financially.
She said: “I was at work when we were told it was closing. We had only three hours’ notice.
“I just felt devastated and disgusted at how it was handled. It was so last-minute. We had no real advance warning; it was ridiculous.
“They told us we need to go through the government (to make financial claims), but haven’t given us any information on how to claim it through the government.”
The letter adds that a case reference number is needed to make a claim through the government, but both staff members said this has yet to be provided to them.
Claims then usually take six to eight weeks to be processed.
The second employee, who said she is owed roughly £500, said: “I’ve got bills and rent to pay, and people to provide for.
“I think their behaviour is absolutely appalling. Nobody will give us a straight answer. It’s like we’re being ignored.
“It was devastating. The first thing that goes through your head is: ‘I’ve got no job now, no notice, nothing’.
“Some staff were paid last week, but we haven’t been. Why?”
Poundbakery was approached for comment.
The redundancy letter from its parent company, S&PB Retail Ltd, added: “Despite all recent efforts to remain trading across all shops, the decline in cashflow has meant that we have no alternative but to close the unprofitable shops.
“Your area sales manager discussed that due to timescales and a lack of availability of alternatives, it was not possible to explore redeployment options and confirmed that as a result, regrettably, your position is redundant.
“Claims for any outstanding arrears of pay, holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice, redundancy pay and any other sums will need to be claimed by you directly via the Redundancy Protection Service, provided by the government.
“We wanted to assure you that this closure is through no fault of your own and resulted from tough decisions that needed to be taken to try and safeguard the future of the business."
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