BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – KEVIN ZHANG, owner of the recently-opened King’s Pavilion on Port Zante in Basseterre, is refuting a claim of victimisation levelled against him by a former female employee.
Heather Greene of Molineux Village claims that after some three weeks of working in the Deli of King’s Pavilion, she was unceremoniously fired by Zhang on Friday, February 3, 2012.
The mother of five said she was employed as Head Chef at a rate of $9 an hour for an eight-hour day when the supermarket opened its doors to business on Monday (Jan. 9).
She claimed to have worked 10 hours each on Monday and Tuesday (Jan. 23-24), six hours on the following day which was her day-off but management requested her presence at work, and nine hours on Thursday (Jan. 26), giving her a total of 11 hours overtime.
“On Friday, January 27 when I went looking out for the money, I had already signed without taking notice of the amount written in the book. But on checking the amount that I received, I said that no overtime was in it and they told me to wait until the following week.
“On the following week, I worked every day, and half an hour before my eight-hour shift was over on that Friday I reminded the secretary not to forget my 11 hours overtime from the previous week. She said it was okay, but when I went upstairs into the office to collect my money from Kevin I found out it was again wrong.
“I told Kevin that my money was not right and he told me to sign for my pay check. I told him that I cannot sign when my money is not right. I also told him that I waited last week but I did not get it and now you want me to sign again and the amount is not right? If I sign the book it means that my money is right!
“He again said, ‘Sign’, and I told him I will not do so because it will show that everything is alright. He however persisted that I must sign and I said, ‘Okay, I will sign but I need my money today because I have bills to pay.’”
Greene said she collected her money from Zhang and returned to the Deli to continue her chores.
“Kevin gave me my flat rate and no overtime in it and I went downstairs and continued to do my work. However, about half an hour after, the Floor Manager came to me and said that Kevin said he will pay me but he no longer needs my services.
“On hearing that, I immediately went back upstairs and asked Kevin why he terminated me. He told me that the reason is because I was arguing with him for my money. And I said to him, ‘Kevin, you can’t be uplifting people and just drop them like that…people are not toys. Kevin, you gon pay you know, I am not coming back in this establishment to buy anything. I used to spend at least $300…I used to spend my salary in here and is so you treat people. You know what I am going to do for you? I gon pray for you,’ and I left the establishment.
Greene said she had known Zhang for some 10 years and since last year he had told her that he wanted her to work with him. She also said that she took the job because it would have assisted her in repaying a bank loan she took to add an extension to her house and to start a business of selling provisions and greens, among other items, in the vicinity of Basseterre Market on the Bay Road.
“Kevin offered me the work as a cook since September last year. He told me that he was building a supermarket with a Deli and he wanted me to work with him as a cook.
“It’s over 10 years we have known each other, because I worked with him at his restaurant on Port Zante that he gave to his brother and I also worked in his house upstairs his other supermarket in Sprott Street.”
Greene said she wanted to go public because “I felt violated and I want the nation to know about this story. Slavery was abolished but it seems as if these foreigners believe that it still exists in St. Kitts. Or, maybe it does, because some of us allow them to mistreat us and let them get away with it. But I would like to tell my fellow Kittitians, especially the women, not to tolerate the nonsense these people tell us and the way they treat us. Stand up for your rights, uphold your dignity and when they want to fool you with praises of how good you are, tell them, ‘Any praise, you put it in my wages’.”
Greene said she had reported the incident to the Labour Department and was told that Zhang had short-changed her and that they would investigate. She also said that she was the fourth person to be fired within a month.
This media house visited the Labour Commissioner, who confirmed that Greene had lodged a complaint against Zhang and that an investigation is on the way.
SKNVibes also visited the supermarket and spoke to Zhang as well as the establishment’s Supervisor, Dennis Williams.
Zhang admitted to employing Greene as the Head Chef of his Deli but claimed that it was his secretary’s fault why she was not paid the 11 hours overtime at the end of the first working week.
“My secretary is responsible for tabulating the hours of every employee and to make up their wages, but I am the person who pays them. However, she forgot to enter the overtime and that is why Greene did not receive it on that Friday.”
Contrary to Greene’s explanation on the reason for her being fired, Zhang said she has an attitude problem, was inefficient and lacked the ability to manage.
“She was hired as the Head Chef but she was inefficient. On Monday, January 27 the customers had complained about the quality of the food and when I held a meeting with her and questioned about it, she put the blame on one of the cooks whom she was supervising.
“I was not satisfied with her performance. Everything in the kitchen was in a mess and frozen meats were placed in the display compartment where the cooked food and other eatables are kept for customers to see. So, instead of Wednesday, I told her to take her day off on the Tuesday. I did not give her a reason, but I did that to have a firsthand view of what’s going on in the kitchen. I therefore prepared the meals myself with the assistance of the other employees and learnt that she was the one to blame for the nonsense that was going on.”
Zhang said he had found her replacement in a male who had worked at the Marriott Hotel and was a better chef as well as a much better administrator in the Deli.
He also said that he told Greene of her replacement, that she was no longer in charge of the kitchen and would have to take orders from the new Head Chef.
“Concerning her overtime, I paid her out of my pocket on that Friday. She told me that it was 11 hours and instead of paying her $99, I gave her $115. And after holding a meeting with my supervisor and secretary, I decided to terminate her services.
This was confirmed by Williams, who claimed to have over 24 years experience at working in supermarkets with his last place of employ being one in St. Maarten.
He too noted that Greene had an attitude problem and that after being replaced as Head Chef had to be cautioned on a number of occasions not to wander about the supermarket, but to be within the Deli for which she was employed.
When questioned on the amount of people employed at the supermarket, including the Deli, Williams said, “Eighty percent of the employees are locals.”
