ICED workers laid off for three months, not fired

ICE Caribbean Entertainment District (ICED) on Saturday said it has temporarily laid off part of its workforce less than two weeks after it opened its ice-skating rink in La Romaine.

In a statement issued in response to a social media post claiming 60 workers had been fired, ICED's management said it had reduced the number of days it was open and was only operating one shift of workers.

"In order to better serve our customer base and ensure business continuity, we communicated with staff members on April, 27 2023 indicating a new structure for the ICED Skating Facility and Snow Playground."

The facility opened on April 14.

The business will now be open from Wednesday to Sunday between the hours of1 pm to 9 pm.

ICED said, "As such, the company made the difficult decision to temporarily furlough staff for a period of three months as a result of the new structure."

The company said during the meeting on April 27, "employees were told to keep their uniforms as there is a possibility of being called out to work in the near future."

The furloughed staff are free to enter the facility as guests but not as uniformed employees.

After the three month period, ICED will review the structure and notify staff regarding their employment status.

With regards to employee uniforms, ICED, via its employee contract, agreed to pay 50 per cent for the cost of the uniforms while staff members who signed the contract agreed to cover the cost of the uniform paying the remaining 50 per cent which accounts for the payment of $1,200.

"Via the employee contract, it was agreed by both parties that the $1,200 would be deducted over a six-month period ($200 per month).

ICED said, "All salaries will be paid on May 1, 2023 via cheques, and we foresee this as a one-time occurrence. Moving forward we will utilise ACH transfer."

The company is aware of the complicated situation regarding employee status.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused."

ICED said, employees can contact them directly at employees@iced.world so "that we can listen to your concerns and communicate with you."

The company did not indicate how many workers were furloughed.