"Honest and hard-working" employees get £15k from failed sushi restaurant

Wednesday 14 December 2022

Two "honest, hard-working" former members of staff at a closed St. Aubin restaurant endured "deeply unpleasant" treatment from their employer, according to a recent Tribunal judgment.

The Employment and Discrimination Tribunal ruled that Lorena Bretan and Vasile Buciuman were together owed £14,579 by Shinzo restaurant in redundancy money, holiday pay and other payments.

The tribunal upheld their claims against the sushi and steak restaurant, which closed permanently in May.

Tribunal Deputy Chair, Cyril Whelan, said: "It is deeply unpleasant to see patently honest, hard-working people kept out of the significant sums of money that they have earned by their work over an appreciable period in demanding jobs."

He added: "The absence of recourse has left them disillusioned."

It ruled that Ms Bretan was owed a total of £6,750, and Mr Buciuman was owed £7,829. Ms Bretan was owed £4,500 for dismissal, £675 in holiday pay and £450 for bank holiday pay.

Mr Buciuman was owed £5,220 for dismissal, £783 in holiday pay, and bank holiday pay of £522.

The pair were not issued with proper, itemised payslips during some of their time at the restaurant, according to the judgment. Ms Bretan was awarded £1,125 for this and Mr Buciuman is to receive £1,304.

Shinzo was opened by businessman Gavin Roberts in August 2020 and specialised in sushi, steak and cocktails.

But it closed in spring this year, with Mr Roberts claiming that it could have stayed open if it had received another £85,000 in government Covid support payments but the government said it had already received £229,000.