The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

ANOTHER dispute has arisen over the calculation of severance packages for more than 300 former City Markets, Tribune Business was told yesterday, with claims that the now-closed supermarket chain's majority owners were basing payouts on reduced work weeks.

Chief inventory control officer, Whanslaw Turnquest, told Tribune Business that City Markets' principal, Mark Finlayson, was calculating the severance pay contrary to what was laid out under the Employment Act, an issue that came to light during a recent meeting.

Mr Turnquest said: "The law is the 40 hour work week for all full-time employees, management and line staff. There is some confusion over how that applies when a company is going through a financial difficulty.

"For several months, they had some of the full-time employees working a 24-hour work week instead of the 40 hours. He is trying to say he is going to do all the years they were working, their base pay, based on the 24 hours and not the 40 hour work week.

"That's not legal, that's not the law. The way he is calculating the severance packages is contrary to the Employment Act, reduced hours and reduced pay. That is what he is using to calculate the severance packages. It should be based on the full basic pay."

Mr Turnquest's claims were confirmed by a Labour Department executive with knowledge of the matter, who declined to comment publicly on the situation. Despite placing numerous calls, Tribune Business was unable to contact Mr Finlayson for comment.

Meanwhile, Mr Turnquest said: "This should have been resolved a long time. The labour laws in this country are weak. The working class in this country have become slaves. I don't know how in the hell this happened. This should not have happened."

Labour minister, Shane Gibson, told Tribune Business yesterday: "I met with employees of City Markets on Monday. They expressed their concerns about not being compensated, about having meetings scheduled and individuals not showing up.

"I committed to trying to meet with Mark Finlayson. He was able to contact me via text. I tried calling him but I didn't reach him. I sent him a message today again trying to schedule a meeting to conciliate this process, to allow this process to come to a conclusion.

"The Department of Labour is here to conciliate. We have been unable to have this matter dealt with as effectively as we would wish to, and as soon as we are able to meet with Mr Finlayson again we will try and see how we will bring this matter to a conclusion."