Doughnut Time taken to Fair Work Commission for unpaid wages

As many as 35 workers at the popular doughnut chain Doughnut Time are taking the company to the Fair Work Commission for unpaid wages.

According to the Courier Mail, the staff working across the company’s 15 Australian stores allege they’re owed more than $70,000 in pay.

The money, they say, is owed on unpaid shifts.

Some employees have missed up to three weeks of pay

Former Doughnut Time chef Kimmy Mi Kim has claimed that the company first began defaulting on pay last September.

He told the Courier Mail there were delays of more than four weeks for some staff. Wages have since been paid sporadically.

A group of Brisbane workers confronted management about the situation.

There were told they would be paid in time.

The company however couldn’t set a firm date. The issue was reported to Fair Work when a January 13 deadline passed without payment.

At the time, a company accountant told one worker that its cash flow situation would soon improve.

Kim was in the group of several staff members from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney who had left the business at the end of January.

They had not been paid since January 7.

In a press release sent to Broadsheet, Doughnut Time blamed its financial woes on a challenging retail business environment, high rents and high labour costs, and the absence of outside capital.

It’s been a tough time for Doughnut Time owner Damian Griffiths.

In December, he lost control of Alfred & Constance and the Lime Hotel.

His Bubbles Bar and Bistro business went into liquidation this month.

Doughnut Time CEO and managing director Dan Strachotta, a turnaround specialist with experience working with start-ups and growth businesses throughout Australia Europe and Asia, is now getting ready to purchase Doughnut Time for an undisclosed sum from Griffiths.

According to the press release, part of the sale includes rectifying back pays of staff. That is now being worked through.

Leon Getler 20th February 2018