Lax labour laws blamed as laid-off Liverpool call centre workers await back pay
Cubicles at Global Empire Corporation’s call centre in Liverpool. File photo: Ed Halverson
Sixty-nine people who used to work for Global Empire Corporation at its Liverpool call centre still haven’t been paid severance after being laid off last March.
That’s despite an order from Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Division that Global Empire must pay the laid-off workers a total of $193,115.04.
After a 14-month investigation, the province ruled in May that the company failed to give proper notice of the layoff under Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Code and that the non-unionized workers were entitled to just over five weeks of severance.
It closed its operation in Liverpool shortly after the May 1 ruling.
Debra Lalonde was one of those who lost her job. An official with the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration told her recently that they were unable to collect the severance because Global Empire has no funds or assets in Nova Scotia.
“Come on. Really?” Lalonde says. “How about start protecting employee rights in Nova Scotia so that people living paycheque to paycheque feel protected by the government whose duty is to protect the non-unionized workers that are at risk for abuse from a predatory employer?”
The company says its head office is in Edmonton, so the department asked the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to register the ruling as a judgment of the court.
They then sent that judgement to officials in Alberta to enforce the order on Nova Scotia’s behalf.
Company owner Moe Nashman, however, claims that the company’s assets are in Phoenix, Arizona. So Labour officials say that there are no funds or assets in Nova Scotia or Alberta to collect on.
“No government wants to take accountability when they can’t honour their own legislation, and that’s unfortunate,” Lalonde said.
Lalonde says she and other former employees feel abandoned by the province and the Region of Queens.
Liverpool was the company’s only Canadian location, employing as many as 120 people. It signed a five-year lease with the Region of Queens in December 2021 to move into the municipally owned Business Development Centre.
A Facebook post from the Region of Queens celebrating its lease with Global Empire Corporation.
The region agreed to renegotiate the lease in February 2024, two weeks before the company issued layoff notices. The lease has never been made public.
In late May of this year, a few weeks after the labour board ruling, the municipality hired Global Empire’s former human resources manager.
After Lalonde told two NDP MLAs about the issue at this year’s Labour Day event in Liverpool, Labour critic Paul Wozney raised it in the Nova Scotia legislature with Labour, Skills and Immigration Minister Nolan Young.
“Recent labour board cases involving workers at Global Empire Corporation … show that our Labour Standards Code is outdated and makes it hard for workers to collect wages they’ve rightfully earned,” he said. “If this government is acting quickly to help businesses, why is it ignoring workers unprotected from predatory employers?”
Young responded: “Well, I can’t speak about specifics here on the floor for any specific case, we are working hard. We are. Look, we are working hard for workers. We are out there. We are doing things. Um, yeah, leave it there.”
Wozney replied: “I guess governmenting is hard. The fact is, our current legislation means workers are getting robbed. Despite the labour board ruling in their favour, dozens of people are out thousands of dollars in wages, due to legislation that’s been unchanged for five years under this government’s watch. … Workers need protection from wage theft, and their calls have gone ignored. When will this government update one of the weakest Labour Standards Code in the country to ensure workers actually get paid for the work that they’ve done?”
Lalonde says she’s disappointed that Queens MLA Kim Masland didn’t advocate harder for the employees.
“I have reached out to Minister Masland asking what are our next steps? You know, the government failed in protecting our rights. I haven’t heard back from Minister Masland if there are any any further steps to be taken for the 69 of us to be compensated.”
Masland told QCCR recently that she is “certainly concerned for those employees.”
“Those were earnings and they should be paid. My understanding is that this numbered company which is in a foreign land has gone bankrupt. So I’m not really sure how that is going to be retrieved, but do they deserve to be paid? Absolutely. And the company should have stepped up and paid those employees. But they left in the middle of the night.”
She said the government’s hands are tied.
“You can’t expect the province to pay out every business that goes bankrupt and doesn’t pay its employees. That was a private business, it’s not a government entity, there were no government funds that went into that project, so the business has to step up and find the ability to pay.
“My heart breaks for those folks. … We encourage growth, we encourage business to come to our communities. Sadly a government can’t tell a private business how to run their business.”
Lalonde said Masland’s comments are “typical and disappointing.”
“Actually that’s the first I have heard from her. … I think it’s right on par with the government’s lack of accountability for workers’ rights protection.”
She says that former employees are resigned to never being paid. Most workers were making little more than minimum wage, so they can’t afford to hire a lawyer.
Lalonde says she’s owed about $2,800. She’s contacted Nova Scotia’s ombudsman’s office to see if they can help. But she says the workers have little recourse.
“My next job is just to make sure that I don’t let this go without it being noted that our government did not protect our workers’ rights and unfortunately do not want to take any accountability.”
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
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