Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
‘I CAN’T FEED MY FAMILY’
Friends help mum hit by financial bombshell
An Airdrie single mum with a chronic lung disease is struggling to feed her family after her employer failed to pay her.
Fiona Brogan, 49, was signed off from her job as a petrol station counter assistant at BP Dukes MRH Retail Ltd on Carlisle Road last month, after showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
Thankfully, Fiona didn’t have Covid-19, but she subsequently received a stay- at- home letter from the Scottish Government instructing her to shield in the Petersburn property she shares with her two teenage sons for 12 weeks, as she suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects her breathing.
However, Fiona was left devastated last Thursday when she discovered she hadn’t been paid for the previous month.
The financial hammer blow has had a huge impact on Fiona, who told the Advertiser: “I have got nothing to feed my sons for breakfast.
“Friends are very kindly helping out but there’s only
so much they can do and I can’t ask to borrow money from anyone as I have no idea how or when I’ll be able to pay them back.
“I get a food package delivered every Thursday as part of my instructions to stay at home from the government, but it has things in it the boys aren’t keen on and isn’t enough for us throughout the week.
“I am on a 40-hour a week contract and haven’t been paid since April 7. I was at least expecting my statutory sick pay and my normal salary is about £1400 a month.
“I am worried sick about the future as I don’t know how my sons and I are going to get by if I’m not going to get paid.”
Describing how her time at work came to a temporary end, Fiona, who started at the garage’s retail facility in December, said: “I had been at home for a few weeks as I was showing symptoms of the coronavirus. My doctor gave me an antibiotic and told me to stay off work.
“Although I didn’t have the virus, I received a letter from the Scottish Government telling me I had to stay at home for 12 weeks as I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Despite being at home, I still assumed I would get paid – and was given no indication this wouldn’t be the case.”
After discovering she hadn’t been paid last week, Fiona immediately attempted to contact her employer.
She explained: “A new retailer took over when I was off but I had received a message on WhatsApp from them a couple of weeks ago asking when I was coming back, which I responded to.
“I told them I had a shielding letter from the government to stay safe at home and they didn’t ask to see it.
“When I phoned after finding out I hadn’t been paid, the boss sort of brushed me off and said, he would ‘speak to the accountant’.
“I then tried calling him a few more times over the weekend, and sent him some WhatsApp messages which were viewed, but he ignored me.
“He then got in touch on Monday to say that I hadn’t been paid as they didn’t have all of my information, like my national insurance number.
“I was told things would be sorted out but I’m really struggling if I don’t get my pay.
“I’ve spoken with the council, social work department and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. I’ve managed to get a £58 payment from welfare and applied for Universal Credit, which looks like providing a £36 per fortnight payment.”
A spokesperson for BP Dukes MRH Retail Ltd owners Motor Fuel Group said: “We have spoken to the contract manager and confirmed they are awaiting information from the employee to enable the setup of PAYE.
“The contract manager has made contact to follow up on the outstanding information required and a salary advance to assist the employee.”