Two weeks after being made redundant, the employees of Genesis Global Ltd are still waiting for their December wages, having been stonewalled by their now defunct employers.
The Malta Independent is informed that some 130 people who worked with the company at its Malta office have not been paid their dues after their employer told them that they filed for bankruptcy two days before Christmas.
Workers at Genesis received an email on Friday 23 December, seen and first reported by The Malta Independent, that the company had initiated proceedings in court in Malta for it to be declared insolvent, owing to the company “facing serious financial difficulties.”
Court filings show though that Genesis Global Ltd and its main shareholder Genesis Holdings Ltd both filed for bankruptcy with Malta’s courts on 16 December – a whole week before employees were advised that the company was no longer solvent and the last day that the courts were open before going into their Christmas recess.
The company told its workers in the email that it may not be able to fulfil payments it is owed to its employees, including any outstanding salaries for the month of December or other sums which may have been due.
“We are currently trying our best to find a solution to this issue by trying to raise some funds, and in addition we hope to liaise with the authorities concerned in order to ease the burden and find alternative solutions in order for you to be paid at least some of the money due to you,” the email read.
However, no such solution appears to be in sight, with the employees now left with no option but to seek legal assistance in order to get what is rightfully theirs.
Employees who were made redundant as a result of the insolvency have told The Malta Independent of how the matter has caused a lot of stress on employees, not least due to the timing of the announcement but also because many need to keep up with loan repayments, rents, and children school expenses amongst other things.
There were even employees who had just applied and begun their maternity leave in the same month as being made redundant.
It is believed that around 150 employees – 130 who were made redundant on 23 December and another 20 to 25 who had served their notice but were waiting for their final pay cheque – who are still be paid their December salaries.
Their attempts to contact the director of Genesis Global Ltd Yaniv Meydan, who is based in Australia, have proven futile thus far, meaning that they are in the dark on what is to happen next.
The company meanwhile has continued to shut down its operations: The Malta Independent is informed that its office in Gdansk, Poland, has also been closed and that people working over there have been made redundant as well.