Lancaster hotel workers up in arms over wages bill

The employees at the Kings Arms Hotel in Market Street, allege that some members of staff have not been paid for several months and are owed up to £2,000 in unpaid wages.

The hotel is owned by RKA 2014 Ltd which is registered to an address in Market Street, Lancaster. One angry member of staff told the Guardian: “I started in July, and I’ve worked there for a week for free, but some of my colleagues are owed hundreds of pounds and in one or two cases up to £2,000.

She said: “Some of the staff are considering trying to close the hotel to customers until the situation is resolved.”

Another member of staff has been liaising with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau in an attempt to get the money he is owed.

He said that a lack of information about when staff would be paid had created a “demoralising environment to work in”.

He added: “Staff have yet to be paid on time at all this year. With not so much as an apology or explanation as to why pay was late.”

The hotel employs around 20 members of staff on a part-time and full-time basis.

In 2014 RKA 2014 Ltd confirmed that the company would be selling off some of the 55 bedrooms on a leasehold agreement, enabling them to fund a staged refurbishment of the inside and outside of the building.

The Guardian approached management at the hotel for a response to the employees’ claims but did not receive an official reply.