TOUCAN Connections, the St. Kitts-based call centre which abruptly shut its doors on its operations in Linden, Region 10, in August, has begun disbursing funds to some of the ninety-plus laid off workers.
Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, confirmed on Friday that some of the workers have received monies owed to them by the call centre.
“Yes, some workers have begun to receive payments,” she said. “I am in the process of checking with all the employees, to ensure they have indeed received monies and to ensure it is all the money owed to them,” Minister Broomes told the Guyana Chronicle.
This publication understands that many of the payments received were incomplete. Many of the laid-off workers who had worked with Toucan Connections since 2007 are wondering when they will receive the remainder of their due from the company.
Moneys paid to the workers range from as low as $6,000 to as high as $140,000. The moneys were placed into the bank accounts of the former workers sometime last week.
“I am not in a position to provide more information on the payments. My Ministry is currently in the process of verifying the information received. I cannot say if all of the persons have been paid,” Minister Broomes responded when asked to state how much money had so far been paid to the laid- off workers.
Guyana Chronicle spoke with two of the affected workers yesterday, and they confirmed that payments have been received by some workers. Rashaunda Aaron, a 20-year-old former worker, told this publication that $6,000 were placed into her Citizen’s Bank Account. Aaron said she is unaware of how much money she is to receive from the company.
Asked how she was aware that the money was in her bank account, Aaron said she had met one of her supervisors on the street and had been told to check her account for payment.
“They did not contact me; they said nothing to me. I saw the supervisor on the road and she told me to check for it in the bank. I only saw $6,000,” the former Customer Service Representative told Guyana Chronicle.
She said that, while employed, she used to receive approximately $9,000 per week as wages. Aaron started working with Toucan Connections in January.
Aaaron’s colleague, Kiara Fraser, has not received payment. She told this publication that she had heard other persons were in receipt of payment. “I have not been paid,” she said as she noted that she was not contacted by any official of the Call Centre indicating same.
Investigations carried out after the sudden closure of the Toucan Connections Call Centre have discovered that the company had kept no records; employees had received no contracts; and nobody had ever been provided with a pay slip. Minister Broomes said the report into the investigation is ready but the situation is not a simple one, and additional ground work is being done.
Approximately ninety persons employed by that call centre, many of whom are young people, were laid off in August without being informed prior, and moreso, without receiving their benefits.
Government has said it is working to see how best it can provide relief to the laid-off workers.
