Security officers lament late payment of salary

Nov 13, 2008 News

“It is so hard to cope with this treatment….These people really unfair to we,” was the cry of several security guards employed with the United Associates Security and Domestic Services Incorporated, a firm located at Fort Street, Kingston, Georgetown.

According to reports reaching this newspaper, the employees have not been paid their salaries since September and are very anxious over the situation.

When Kaieteur News visited the firm’s office yesterday, several employees, primarily women and aged men, had converged there in hope that they would impress on management the urgency of their need.

And to the employees’ surprise, one of the managers of the company, Bryan Johnson Junior, yesterday assured them that he would address their concerns. This caused their expectations to soar.

However, disappointment could not aptly describe the disposition of the workers when they left the office yesterday since they were each given a mere $2,000.

“This could be right? I have my children to send to school…How we gon eat? Life hard as it is they just making it even harder for me,” one employee bitterly complained.

Another related that she was forced to send her child to school with water alone even as she questioned where she would get the next meal.

It was disclosed that an average employee is eligible for a salary which amounts to about $18,000 a month.

According to Bryan Johnson, in an invited comment, he is not aware that the workers have not been paid since September, and he described such reports as ‘very inaccurate’.

Johnson said that the security firm has employed a significant number of individuals and always strive to ensure that they are paid as early as possible.

He explained that workers are usually paid by the 25th day of each month, a payment which is processed after the time books of the respective locations are submitted to the office. He noted, though, that a grace period of seven days is allowed to facilitate those instances when time books arrive late.

Johnson acknowledged that the workers have not been paid for October, adding that it is expected that they will be paid in full by tomorrow.