Image Credit: FACEBOOK: National Storage & Warehousing Inc.

A West Kelowna storage company is on the hook for $19,000 after it failed to pay a former employee what it owed them.

According to a June 23 Employment Standards Tribunal decision, National Storage and Warehousing Inc. was ordered to pay former long-term employee Beverly McGuire $15,930 in regular and overtime wages, statutory holiday pay and annual vacation pay.

The company was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine for breaching the Employment Standards Act.

The order was made in February but company owner Daniel Faye appealed the decision, arguing the employee was a manager and therefore wasn't paid for overtime or stat holidays.

The decision says McGuire began working for Faye in 2013 and had no written employment agreement. She identified herself as the "General Manager" and had a wide range of duties from driving a forklift truck to accounts and bookkeeping.

"(McGuire) said that at the end of 2019, she worked seven days per week 12-16 hours per day and struggled to complete her management tasks, facility maintenance and forklift operator tasks while also performing bookkeeping duties," the decision says.

It was around this time that Faye's wife unexpectedly died.

At the end of 2020, McGuire told Faye she had worked at least 100 days of overtime for which she had not been paid and he agreed to a one-time payment of $5,000 and for her to work a four-day week for the next year.

The four-day week plan never worked out as McGuire went on medical leave in January 2021 and resigned two months later.

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The decision says in 2019, McGuire began keeping her own timesheets until she resigned. She estimated she spent about 75% of her time doing bookkeeping.

The company owner argued these timesheets were "fabricated" although provided no evidence to support the claim.

He also argued it was impossible for someone to work as many hours as she said she did.

Faye argued McGuire was a manager and therefore wasn't owed overtime and holiday pay.

However, the Employment Standards Tribunal found that she was not principally employed as a manager since she did not spend a significant portion of her time independently directing or supervising staff.

Therefore the Tribunal ruled she was owed overtime and vacation pay.

The Tribunal pointed out that the company provided no specific evidence to challenge McGuire's timesheets and contrary to the law, didn't keep their own payroll records.

"Had (the Employer) kept payroll records they were statutorily required to keep, there would be very little dispute regarding (the Employee’s) wage entitlements," the Tribunal noted.

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In his appeal, Faye argued he had "new evidence" that showed that McGuire was a manager. He also said that the one-time $5,000 payment meant any claim for overtime was "null and void."

The Tribunal said the argument lacked any "legal or factual foundation."

Faye also claimed that McGuire's complaint was motivated by her dissatisfaction with the company and he'd actually overpaid her for 50 hours of work.

The National Storage and Warehousing owner accused McGuire of being "dishonest" and that she'd "embezzled" from the company.

The Tribunal ruled that Faye had provided no evidence at all to support these claims.

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Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed Faye's appeal in its entirety and ordered him to cough up the $18,930, plus interest.

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