Disgruntled employees at Brito’s Bakery in Gqeberha fear that a salary dispute with their employer could render them unable to put bread on the table.
Some employees claimed they had not received their full salaries since January, and that management was feeding them half-baked stories about why they had not been correctly compensated for for overtime.
PepsiCo SSA insists, however, that none of its Brito’s Bakery employees are owed money.
Brito’s employee Siposihle Skweyiya said workers who were on duty in December were told they would be compensated for six weeks — as opposed to four weeks — to make up for working on holidays during the festive season.
He said when their salaries were paid out in January they were shocked that they had been compensated for only four weeks.
“We addressed the issue with management, who promised us that the money would reflect in our accounts by February.
“After that, we were promised that we would receive our money in March,” he said.
He said workers were baffled when they were given envelopes containing between R100 and o R400 in March, allegedly as compensation for the overtime owed.
Nomzamo Nyoka said on Tuesday she had complained about being owed money for working on three holidays in December and was told the issue would be escalated with the company’s payroll.
The workers said being paid short had affected their ability to buy groceries, pay school fees, buy electricity and settle other accounts.
They said their last resort would be to embark on a strike, which could lead to a serious shortage of bread in the city.
However, PepsiCo SSA’s general manager of bakeries, Cornel Vermeulen, said none of its employees based at Brito’s Bakery were owed any money as a result of short pay or overtime not having been paid.
“We can also confirm that we have not received any complaint of this nature, [neither] through our internal grievance process, nor through the anonymous ‘Speak Up’ line, established for complaints of this very nature.”
Vermeulen said all salaries and wages at the bakery were paid into employees’ bank accounts, with overtime being calculated and paid out the following month to allow for processing.
“In December 2021, salaries were paid on December 15 as usual, but due to the short deadlines for payday, van assistants and drivers did not receive their overtime pay on this day.
“The overtime due to each employee was paid in cash so that these employees were not out of pocket for the festive period.”
In February, a similar situation arose due to the company’s financial year-end cut-off and cash was paid (for overtime only) so that the employees were not out of pocket.
Salaries were paid as normal, Vermeulen said.
“This is merely a contingency to ensure that staff [are] not out of pocket due to process delays or errors.
“Payslips reflect the basic salary separately to the overtime, shift allowance, leave pay and paid public holidays so that it is clear to staff as to how their pay is being calculated.
“All the cash payments, referred to above, were recorded on the following month’s payslips to ensure that all staff [were] aware of the payments made, as well as the relevant tax deductions.
“The bakery management has been in constant contact with the majority union, as is the norm, regarding these payments,” Vermeulen said.
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