IN response to public outcry, Pennywise Cosmetics Ltd yesterday reversed its decision to eliminate the “perk” of offering paid lunch hours and 15-minute breaks for employees with less than four years of tenure.
During an exclusive interview in Wednesday’s Express Business magazine, Pennywise director Dr Shivum Paladee confirmed that in an effort to deal with the increased labour costs stemming from the amended minimum wage and to prevent passing this additional expense on to customers, the retailer had devised an alternative solution.
And so, what Pennywise opted to do was to no longer pay staff working there fewer than four years for their lunch-hour and 15-minute break in response to the increased minimum wage of $20.50 an hour which came into effect on January.
“With this minimum wage change, it is a big change, so obviously it is either we raise our prices or we find ways to minimise the loss,” Paladee said in the interview.
This decision affected around a quarter of Pennywise’s employees or around 400 people.
However, following “several calls from concerned citizens” on the changes made “inadvertently” to its terms and conditions of employment, Pennywise said it decided to revert to the original agreement.
A statement posted to Pennywise’s Facebook page stated, “We wish to advise our valuable employees, and the concerned public, that we have decided to revert to the original terms and conditions as applicable.”
“The decision has been made following advice from our industrial relations consultant as we seek to continue to comply with the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act and other applicable labour laws,” it stated.
Attempts to contact Labour Minister Stephen Mc Clashie on the situation proved futile yesterday.
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