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Published On:Saturday, April 24, 2010
By ALISON LOWE Tribune Staff Reporter
alowe@tribunemedia.net
THE General Manager of the Marley Resort and Spa quit in protest yesterday over comments from the company's owner Stephanie Marley.
Barbara Hanna Cox walked out after Ms Marley - daughter of reggae legend, Bob - blamed the former Bahamas Hotel Association President, along with other managers and staff, for causing the resort to operate at a loss.
Facing complaints carried in this newspaper over the last two weeks about ongoing employee salary payment delays at the Cable Beach hotel, Ms Marley alleged that the Bahamian workforce brought the situation on themselves.
She claims many lack the hard work ethic of Jamaicans and seem to think the Marley family have a "pot of gold" to keep the business running out of their own pockets.
"Eighty per cent of staff at the resort work really well with supervision" while the rest "are not worth the payroll," said Ms Marley.
The businesswoman stated that she and her mother, Bob's wife Rita, have never made a penny from the resort during its two years in operation, and revealed that she is considering firing 20 per cent of her 38-strong workforce who she blamed for profit-losing "inefficiencies" which have taken a toll on its finances.
"We've never faced anything like this in our 20 years in the tourism and music business," said Ms Marley, who has served as the Managing Director of the Bob Marley Foundation, Bob Marley Museum, Tuff Gong International, Tuff Gong Recording and the Rita Marley Foundation in Jamaica.
According to the company director, in addition to staff cutbacks there is a possibility the 16-room resort may be closed down entirely on a temporary basis while she find replacement employees. In the face of cash flow problems, the Jamaican businesswoman admitted that the company has been seeking to obtain an overdraft facility from a local Bahamian bank to assist with cash flow, but attempts over "a couple of months" to secure this arrangement have not been successful.
"We're urging them that we cannot keep operating without an overdraft," she said, when asked about the salary delays.
Ms Marley's critical comments relative to general manager and former Bahamas Hotel Association Barbara Hanna Cox led to Mrs Hanna Cox quitting her job with immediate effect yesterday afternoon.
Mrs Hanna Cox, who said she "came out of retirement" to work at the hotel property in August 2008, has denied Ms Marley's accusations about her management style, claiming it makes no sense given that the Resort boss allegedly asked her to stay on for an extra three months when she tendered her resignation in February of this year. Mrs Hanna Cox said her decision at that time was in most part due to the "differences of opinion" between she and Ms Marley. "I did a great job," she told The Tribune.
Meanwhile, Ms Marley claimed she had personally been concerned about rooms at the resort being sold for less than 50 per cent of the average $395 a night she had authorised and she had "not received an explanation in five weeks" from Mrs Hanna Cox as to why this was.
However, after Ms Hanna Cox announced she was quitting as general manager yesterday, Ms Marley called this newspaper again to state that it was not Mrs Hanna Cox alone that she was blaming for the resort's financial tribulations.
"There are other managers and heads of departments so it would not be fair to say it is her fault personally," she said.
The dramatic turn of events comes after The Tribune has for weeks reported the concerns of staff members who were faced with unexplained salary delays. Some employees claimed they had not been paid for as long as a month, and others, up to two weeks, although this period of time was disputed by Ms Marley who said just 50 per cent of staff are owed a week's pay while the rest have been fully compensated.
Defending the company's position over the salary issues, Ms Marley told this newspaper she and her mother, Rita, have personally paid "hundreds of thousands" of dollars out of their own pockets to fund the salaries of their Bahamian staff over the last two years.
However, she said that in light of certain staff member's continued wastage of resources like electricity and water, refusal to abide by workplace "protocol" and other issues, the two Marleys have decided this "has to stop".
"We've reached the point where business has to be business," she said. "There's alot of wastage going on and they think that because we are Marleys we can afford it but we can't continue to fund the resort with it operating at a loss for two years."
She said salary delays were likely to continue for now until steps can be taken to turn the business around. "The funds are not in the account due to slackness and negligence," said Ms Marley.
However, the resort director denied that the wage delays are not punitive, saying that she and her family operate their business based on the "One love" philosophy popularised by their father. "It's got nothing to do with penalising them. I wouldn't penalise them. What we should do is get them off the payroll, not bring them in and not pay them," said Ms Marley, adding that she has already called for certain staff who have been "repeatedly negligent" to be let go, but this has not happened.
As a result of salary delays, significant number of employees decided not to show up to work this week, and yesterday one employee claimed just 11 of the 38 employees were at work. It is not clear how many were scheduled to be at work, as Ms Marley claims that "90 per cent" of staff have recently been put on a three day rotational work week in order to cut costs.
Speaking with The Tribune on condition of anonymity, several employees - none of whom are unionised - have expressed their frustration over the indefinite salary setbacks, telling of how the cash shortfalls have not only impacted their ability to meet their financial responsibilities, but is also jeopardising service levels at the resort.
They want the Department of Labour to step in and address the challenging working conditions. Deputy Director at the Department of Labour, Josephine Bennons, said last week that if workers wish to see their salary issues addressed they must each individually file a trade dispute with the Labour Board.
By ALISON LOWE Tribune Staff Reporter
alowe@tribunemedia.net
THE General Manager of the Marley Resort and Spa quit in protest yesterday over comments from the company's owner Stephanie Marley.
Barbara Hanna Cox walked out after Ms Marley - daughter of reggae legend, Bob - blamed the former Bahamas Hotel Association President, along with other managers and staff, for causing the resort to operate at a loss.
Facing complaints carried in this newspaper over the last two weeks about ongoing employee salary payment delays at the Cable Beach hotel, Ms Marley alleged that the Bahamian workforce brought the situation on themselves.
She claims many lack the hard work ethic of Jamaicans and seem to think the Marley family have a "pot of gold" to keep the business running out of their own pockets.
"Eighty per cent of staff at the resort work really well with supervision" while the rest "are not worth the payroll," said Ms Marley.
The businesswoman stated that she and her mother, Bob's wife Rita, have never made a penny from the resort during its two years in operation, and revealed that she is considering firing 20 per cent of her 38-strong workforce who she blamed for profit-losing "inefficiencies" which have taken a toll on its finances.
"We've never faced anything like this in our 20 years in the tourism and music business," said Ms Marley, who has served as the Managing Director of the Bob Marley Foundation, Bob Marley Museum, Tuff Gong International, Tuff Gong Recording and the Rita Marley Foundation in Jamaica.
According to the company director, in addition to staff cutbacks there is a possibility the 16-room resort may be closed down entirely on a temporary basis while she find replacement employees. In the face of cash flow problems, the Jamaican businesswoman admitted that the company has been seeking to obtain an overdraft facility from a local Bahamian bank to assist with cash flow, but attempts over "a couple of months" to secure this arrangement have not been successful.
"We're urging them that we cannot keep operating without an overdraft," she said, when asked about the salary delays.
Ms Marley's critical comments relative to general manager and former Bahamas Hotel Association Barbara Hanna Cox led to Mrs Hanna Cox quitting her job with immediate effect yesterday afternoon.
Mrs Hanna Cox, who said she "came out of retirement" to work at the hotel property in August 2008, has denied Ms Marley's accusations about her management style, claiming it makes no sense given that the Resort boss allegedly asked her to stay on for an extra three months when she tendered her resignation in February of this year. Mrs Hanna Cox said her decision at that time was in most part due to the "differences of opinion" between she and Ms Marley. "I did a great job," she told The Tribune.
Meanwhile, Ms Marley claimed she had personally been concerned about rooms at the resort being sold for less than 50 per cent of the average $395 a night she had authorised and she had "not received an explanation in five weeks" from Mrs Hanna Cox as to why this was.
However, after Ms Hanna Cox announced she was quitting as general manager yesterday, Ms Marley called this newspaper again to state that it was not Mrs Hanna Cox alone that she was blaming for the resort's financial tribulations.
"There are other managers and heads of departments so it would not be fair to say it is her fault personally," she said.
The dramatic turn of events comes after The Tribune has for weeks reported the concerns of staff members who were faced with unexplained salary delays. Some employees claimed they had not been paid for as long as a month, and others, up to two weeks, although this period of time was disputed by Ms Marley who said just 50 per cent of staff are owed a week's pay while the rest have been fully compensated.
Defending the company's position over the salary issues, Ms Marley told this newspaper she and her mother, Rita, have personally paid "hundreds of thousands" of dollars out of their own pockets to fund the salaries of their Bahamian staff over the last two years.
However, she said that in light of certain staff member's continued wastage of resources like electricity and water, refusal to abide by workplace "protocol" and other issues, the two Marleys have decided this "has to stop".
"We've reached the point where business has to be business," she said. "There's alot of wastage going on and they think that because we are Marleys we can afford it but we can't continue to fund the resort with it operating at a loss for two years."
She said salary delays were likely to continue for now until steps can be taken to turn the business around. "The funds are not in the account due to slackness and negligence," said Ms Marley.
However, the resort director denied that the wage delays are not punitive, saying that she and her family operate their business based on the "One love" philosophy popularised by their father. "It's got nothing to do with penalising them. I wouldn't penalise them. What we should do is get them off the payroll, not bring them in and not pay them," said Ms Marley, adding that she has already called for certain staff who have been "repeatedly negligent" to be let go, but this has not happened.
As a result of salary delays, significant number of employees decided not to show up to work this week, and yesterday one employee claimed just 11 of the 38 employees were at work. It is not clear how many were scheduled to be at work, as Ms Marley claims that "90 per cent" of staff have recently been put on a three day rotational work week in order to cut costs.
Speaking with The Tribune on condition of anonymity, several employees - none of whom are unionised - have expressed their frustration over the indefinite salary setbacks, telling of how the cash shortfalls have not only impacted their ability to meet their financial responsibilities, but is also jeopardising service levels at the resort.
They want the Department of Labour to step in and address the challenging working conditions. Deputy Director at the Department of Labour, Josephine Bennons, said last week that if workers wish to see their salary issues addressed they must each individually file a trade dispute with the Labour Board.