Former employees of a snow removal and landscaping company are hoping recent developments will lead to them finally getting paid.
In January, CityNews reported that workers of a Vaughan-based company operating under multiple names, including Snow Pros LTD and Grass Guys, claimed they were owed thousands of dollars in back pay. At that time, the owner said he would be selling assets to pay back the workers.
But many of the workers, such as Luis Contreras, say that still hasn’t happened. He received a notice of payment from an Employment Standards Officer with the Ministry of Labour who determined Contreras is owed more than $4,000.
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“The allegations are serious,” said Paul Edwards, another former worker, whose complaint was among 11 others filed with the Ministry about the company.
“And now they have to go after him to get the money and if they can’t find the money trail where his money’s at then you don’t get nothing.”
CityNews confirmed the company owned by Ryan Hunter is still operating under the name YLASP.
According to the order to pay sent to Contreras, the investigator said Hunter failed to respond to numerous requests about the claims.
CityNews reached out to Hunter, who responded via text messages, calling the workers’ claims “isolated incidents” that were due to “unfortunate business problems that occurred largely due to clients no paying on time or at all.”
He went on to say that workers currently employed by him are getting paid, noting that “all wages owed are from January 5 and earlier.”
Hunter says he plans to work with the Ministry to pay back the money owed to the workers.
The workers say they aren’t about to back down, and called on the Ministry to step up enforcement.
“It’s very frustrating,” said former worker Omar Colindrez. “The Ministry has known about these issues. It’s not the first time he’s been reported to the Ministry of Labour. It’s been multiple times.”
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