INVESTIGATIONS into the abrupt closure of the St. Kitts-based Call Centre Toucan Connections have discovered that the company had kept no records, and the employees had received no contracts, nor were they provided with pay slips.

Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, told reporters Monday that while the report into the investigation is ready, the situation is not a simple and straightforward one.

“It is not simple at all…. There is no record…it is not as straight forward as you may think…there are no contracts, pay slips, nothing!” she said upon being asked whether she could quantify the amount of money owed to the laid-off workers.

Approximately 90 employees of the Call Centre, many of whom are young people, were laid off without prior notification in August; moreover, they have not received their benefits.

“This is a nightmare,” the minister opined, as she noted that government is doing its best to deal with the situation. Government, Broomes added, is working on short- and long-term plans to assist the workers.

At the moment, the next step for the Ministry is to take the company to court. An initial investigation by the Ministry of Social Protection revealed that the company was not paying the employees’ National Insurance Scheme contributions nor was it paying the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax, although monies were deducted from the salaries of the workers in either respect.

The Ministry is currently trying to satisfy itself that the laid-off workers were indeed employees attached to Toucan Connections. Minister Broomes noted that while they were laid off, her ministry is not in receipt of any document proving that they were employed by the company.

Investigations are being conducted into whose name the bank account used by Toucan operated. Also, investigations have revealed that the company may not have been registered. “We can’t find the registration,” Broomes declared.

Government has committed to providing relief to the laid-off workers. Broomes told reporters on Monday that the situation is dire and deserves full attention.
“We have a plan, and at the end of this, that plan will be executed to the benefit of the Toucan employees,” she said.

The minister noted that there are approximately 70 statements that have to be perused by the Ministry, after which it is hoped that Minister Volda Lawrence will present to Cabinet the report and all the findings for review and deliberations.

President David Granger has only recently expressed concern about the impact the situation will have on the employment situation in the mining town of Linden. He told reporters that while the issue is not a governmental one, his government is working to see how best it can provide “relief where it is possible.”

“It is a private enterprise matter, and we, of course, are deeply concerned about the impact it will have on the employment situation in this community,” he has confided.

President Granger hopes to see the report on the St. Kitts-based company, so that the issues can be discussed thoroughly. “Once I get the report, I’ll discuss it at Cabinet,” he said.

Following the abrupt closure of the Call Centre, the Department of Labour was summoned to investigate the laying off of the workers. The company has said it was unaware that it had been responsible for preparing severance packages for the laid-off workers.

Asked whether any senior official of the company is currently in communication with the Ministry, Minister Broomes responded in the negative. “They just had two ladies, two supervisors…that is why I am saying (that) outside of this, government is looking at the situation,” she explained.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that the two supervisors are foreign nationals, and have since left Guyana. This publication was reliably informed that Regional Chairman Renis Morian had suggested that the passports of the two supervisors should have been lodged with the Immigration Department until the investigations have been completed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be included in the investigation, as there are no representatives of the St. Kitts-based company in Guyana.

Asked how concerned her Ministry, and by extension government, is about foreign companies establishing businesses here and then closing down without providing benefits to workers, Broomes said: “We are very concerned…I want to know if workers don’t have a voice.”

She stressed that the laid-off workers have to be paid. “It is lots of workers,” she said. Government, she added, will be examining the issue extensively, as it “goes beyond severance payment”.

Contacted yesterday, Regional Chairman Renis Morian said investigations are ongoing, but declined to comment further.
By Ariana Gordon