Staff left without pay after sudden restaurant closure
Staff at the Tony Macaroni restaurant in Barnton have been left without four weeks' worth of wages after it closed for good.
One former staff member told the Evening News that he and all the other nine staff members were left fighting to get the money.
One of the branch's delivery drivers, Heriot Watt University student Farhan Fazal, 22, said he had to move out of his rented accommodation at Davidson's Mains and move in with his brother.
He said he could no longer afford to have his own place and has been struggling to get by with no income while completing his masters degree in business.
"We were paid weekly, every Monday, but we've had no pay for four weeks. I'm a student so I have to pay my bills, groceries and everything else. But now I have no income and I could really do with the wages they are due me.”
Farhan and his former colleagues are struggling to get answers from Tony Macaroni about the wages they say are due. A spokesman from the restaurant said payments had been made on Thursday afternoon (March 28). Farhan told the Evening News that he has now received three weeks wages with the promise of the fourth week in a fortnight's time.
"Everybody is in the same situation. Bartenders, waiters, drivers, managers, everybody that worked there. We created a What's App group when we were told the branch was to close. As we need to stay together to fight for the money they are due us."
The closure leaves Tony Macaroni with just two outlets in the Capital - at the Omni Centre and Fort Kinnaird.