Doughnut Time has completely vanished leaving holes in the walls where the sweet treats used to be. The sinking ship of a company has gone into complete liquidation, leaving behind a mammoth $200,000 in wages owed to former employees left jobless.
Now, one of the company’s state managers has taken to the crowd sourcing website, GoFundMe to raise the money for ex-employees including the state manager’s former team members.
Doughnut Time founder, Damian Griffiths paid the literal price after expanding the business too quickly. When a potential investment pinned to pay off the debt fell through, Doughnut Time suddenly closed half of its stores on the 4 March, without even a crappy explanation email. Then when the hasty attempt to sell the company from founder to CEO Dan Strachotta blew up in flames, Doughnut Time was officially done.
More than 200 staff members were let go, many missing multiple pay cheques. And it doesn’t even end there. The company still owe former staff members 15 months worth of superannuation.
For Australian citizens and permanent residents, the Fair Entitlement Guarantee (FEG) is the safety net where eligible employees can claim their unpaid wages if they lose their job due to liquidation or bankruptcy. Those eligible have rightly applied for the claim but the over 60 per cent of ex-Doughnut Time foreign workers cannot. These international students and holiday workers on a visa have been forced to scramble for new employment to sustain their living expenses.
Though to many, finding a new job isn’t the hard part – it’s missing out on hard-earned wages.
Enter GoFundMe.
According to the page description,
“The staff trusted management and continued working long hours to keep the company afloat. Some staff went 7+ weeks without pay, waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel. That light never came.
DT staff were taken advantage of. Their trustworthiness and work ethic were abused and they are left with nothing to show for it.
…The money raised on this page will go a long way in helping former staff members of Doughnut Time, get back on their feet. They deserve retribution for their hard work. No one deserves to go through what they’ve been put through.
Any contribution is a step forward. The staff of Doughnut Time shouldn’t have to suffer due to dishonest, disrespectful and disloyal bad management.”
Pedestrian talked to the New South Wales state manager behind the campaign. She has requested to remain anonymous.
“I wanted to make a change [to the story] and end it with a positive note. Hopefully I can get those people their money back because they all worked so hard and they deserve it.”
The state manager’s team, which she thinks of as “my little family” have reacted well to the campaign with other affected chains across the country chiming in with their support and commitment to work together.
“I just want to make my team happy, they always looked up to me. Everyone’s been very negative about the whole thing – everyone’s trying to ruin the brand but there is no brand anymore,” she said. “We were such a great and happy team before and I don’t want to lose that.”
Since its creation on March 13, the GoFundMe page has raised $1,680 of its $200,000 goal. You can contribute here.
