Daniel Hudspeth was just a hungry customer eager to fill his stomach when he visited Hogtown Smoke in the Stony Creek area of Hamilton earlier this year.
The 22-year-old left the restaurant with a proposal to work as a server later that week, on St. Patrick’s Day.
After only one day at work, Hudspath said she did not return because she did not receive the compensation she was entitled to.
She is not alone in her complaints against the business. According to Ontario Labor Department data from CBC Hamilton, Hogtown Smoke has a history of owing money to employees.
Hudspeth said that before starting work at Hogtown Smoke, she signed forms that included her bank information before completing a busy shift of six to seven hours.
“I served almost all the tables tonight, six or seven of them,” Huddspet told CBC Hamliton.
However, she said, the house manager refused to give her any of the tips she won.
Huddspet showed the BBC Hamilton a text from the manager, which reads: “I do not have to give you money for your first training shift. I thought I’d share my tips with you because you did a good job … but since I’m not going to look for a job for you, I also decided to keep my money, thank you anyway. “
22-year-old Daniel Hudspeth says she never received money for her first and only shift at Hogtown Smoke on St. Patrick’s Day. The Ministry of Labor and labor lawyers say that if it is true, it is illegal. (Bobby Hristova / CBC)
This experience refused her to work there. Hudspeth said months had passed and she had not received her income from that evening shift.
The barbecue chain had many places in the Greater Toronto area, but the Stony Creek site is the only one still open.
CBC News interviews Scott Fraser, who according to his father, Laird Fraser, “drives [Hogtown Smoke’s] brand / concept with a local marketing company ”, but Scott did not appear in the interview or did not respond to numerous messages.
Laird, the restaurant’s cashier according to his LinkedIn account, blames the pandemic for financial problems.
He told CBC News in an email Sunday that “Stoney Creek’s location is fully compliant with the Ontario Employment Standards Act, including its tips and tips section.” He said there were “no outstanding claims to know” at the site and all of its locations, past and present, are their own corporate entities.
However, data from the province show that in the past, the company has a history of not paying people before 2020 and still owes more than $ 35,000 in unpaid salaries, vacation pay, termination pay and tips.
The Department of Labor and labor attorneys have expressed concern about allegations made by Hudpset and other former Hogtown Smoke employees. Labor attorneys in Hamilton also say the situation is becoming more common, but employees have ways to deal with the fact that they are not being paid.
The manager is not aware of trainees who are entitled to tips
Nicole Marley, who first identified as the manager of the home but later said she was just a bartender, worked with Huddspet that day in March. Marley said he did not deal with salaries, but confirmed much of what the 22-year-old woman said about changing St. Patrick’s Day.
“I [compensated] I gave her a bunch of drinks … I gave her a bunch of breasts to take home with her, but as for tips, she took all my tables. It was her training shift… I don’t have to give [tips]”Marley said in an interview.
“She took money out of my pocket and I thought I was generous … I gave her my tables to train, to study.”
Marley sometimes admitted that while she was a bartender, Hudspeth did some work on her own. Marley also said that in her 20s in the service sector, she was never told that trainees were entitled to tips.
Hogtown Smoke Treasurer Laird Fraser said the business had many locations, but blamed the pandemic for closing all but one. (Bobby Hristova / CBC)
The Department of Labor has said that under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, employers typically cannot withhold tips from employees, deduct tips, or force them to return tips to employers unless required by law or to manage tips. (a collection of employee advice shared with some or all employees).
Ministry spokesman Harry Godfrey offered a scathing comment after hearing about Hudspath’s experience and said the ministry would investigate.
“This employer’s behavior, if true, is completely unacceptable,” Godfrey said in an e-mail in mid-April.
“Any worker who believes that his employer is illegally withholding salaries or tips must contact our ministry so that we can investigate.”
However, the ministry later said there was no active investigation, as Hudsppet had never filed a formal complaint.
Former employee, salespeople express concerns
Neil Griffin, 42, was a server in Hamilton, where he said he worked for two months in late 2021.
He said he was not paid on time and did not receive the right amount. He also noted confusion about how owners pay tips.
“I got my class [pay] but none of my advice. “
Griffin said he was eventually asked to quit his job after asking him for advice.
He said that his management later returned some of the money, but he never complained to the Ministry of Labor.
Neil Griffin, 42, said he had not been paid on time or given the right amount during his two months at Hogtown Smoke, and said he was confused about how the owners paid tips. (Bobby Hristova / CBC)
Laird Fraser said in an email that he could not comment on specific allegations made by former employees on the advice of his lawyer, but added that “as far as we know” no one complained to the Department of Labor about pay problems at the Stone Creek location.
At least two providers have also accused Hogtown of not paying them for their services over the years.
Lynn Seagal, key account manager for Hilite Fine Foods Inc., shared invoices with CBC Hamilton that appear to show that Hogtown Smoke owes $ 5,949.14 from one order in 2016 and two from early 2020, before the pandemic to be officially declared.
All Hogtown Smoke locations served by Hilite Fine Foods were in Toronto and are now closed.
“We dealt with them in several of their places and it was always a nightmare trying to get paid by them,” Seagal said.
“It was a huge drain on our staff’s resources to handle this with every delivery.”
Hogtown Smoke had many restaurants in the Greater Toronto area, but now there is only one in Hamilton. (Bobby Hristova / CBC)
Karen Gorter, owner of a fire in Brant County, said she supplied the Stoney Creek firewood site late last year.
She said she was paid for a load of firewood in November. The following month, she delivered another shipment to the Stoney Creek site worth $ 734.50, according to an invoice shared with CBC Hamilton.
Gorter said she received a Christmas card as a gift from the business after she asked for one to make up for the non-payment.
“I really wasn’t worried about paying at the time,” she said.
But months have passed and she is still waiting for the money, despite sending many messages to management (CBC has seen the messages). Laird Fraser did not respond to specific allegations, but again blamed the closure and restrictions of the pandemic era, although some of the complaints came before the pandemic.
“Every affected provider, of course, is encouraged to sue the insolvency practitioners who process these files,” he wrote in an email.
Hogtown Smoke owes over $ 35,000 as of April
According to the Ministry of Labor, the history of business owing money to employees began before the pandemic.
The summary of employment applications from 2018 to 2020 shows that the province has ordered Hogtown Smoke to pay $ 19,911.83 for unpaid wages, vacation pay, public holiday pay and termination pay.
Businesses paid for these lawsuits: four came from a place on Colbourne Street, and one came from a place on Queen Street, all in Toronto.
Businesses now owe even more money, according to four lawsuits filed since January 2020.
The figures show that Hogtown Smoke owes $ 35,644.39 in unpaid wages, vacation pay, termination pay and tips. One request also includes money due for salary deductions.
The money is in the Ministry of Finance for collection because it has not been paid.
All four lawsuits are related to former Toronto locations.
CBC Hamilton received a letter of decision from the Department of Labor on one of the outstanding claims.
The letter said former employee Jennifer Randall said that since she started working for the restaurant chain at the end of 2019, she had “paid late almost every time” and “never been paid for tips”.
“I was twice late in paying my rent because of this,” she wrote in her complaint, adding that she was fired on March 16 due to the pandemic.
In her case, Hogtown Smoke was ordered to pay $ 2,307.83, and the director was ordered to pay $ 736.86 for unpaid salaries, unpaid tips and unpaid termination fees.
“None of our places in Toronto have survived the economic impact of the pandemic. “Unfortunately, it’s that simple,” Fraser said, adding that unpaid rent has led landlords to terminate leases on some buildings and close.
“As a result, claims … are part of a bankruptcy process run by professionals.”
Fraser noted that the delay in the payment of receivables is due to the fact that they must first be “crystallized”.
“The insolvency practitioners who process these files assure us that this is common practice in this scenario, especially when the business failure is the result of an external source, such as a pandemic.
The province may need better law enforcement: lawyers
The Ministry of Labor said it could prosecute businesses under the Provincial Violations Act and force third parties to take action on assets, including bank accounts, assets or receivables of the employer or company director.
Griffin said the payment orders did not go far enough.
“I don’t think these people need to run a business – they need to be shut down.”
Ned Nolan is an employment lawyer with Nolan, Ciarlo LLP in Hamilton and …
Add Comment