Staff of Evolve Learning, a Chestermere-based daycare, suddenly found themselves out of work and without wages on Nov. 4 – some more unceremoniously than others.
“Five of them got fired on the spot (via Skype),” said former centre director Amber Griffin. “(The owner) called one, one got a text message from him – that was professional.”
The news came as a “shock” to employees, who were told the day prior the daycare would be closing as of Nov. 30.
The owner of the daycare, Abdul Ahmed – who also goes by the name Latz Jessa – currently lives in England. He would not confirm where he was currently located, saying he didn’t feel it was “of any consequence.”
Ahmed said he could not provide much information as an investigation with Chestermere RCMP is currently underway.
“We’re in the midst of some accounting at the moment. Some of my staff members are being reported to the RCMP for theft of funds,” he said.
Chestermere Sergeant Mark Wielgosz said he couldn’t comment on whether or not a report was received.
“What is clear is that there is some difference of opinion. Clearly there’s a conflict with that business,” he said. “I’m not in a position to comment on any investigation that may be ongoing.”
Ahmed told staff on Nov. 4 his multiple sclerosis precluded him from continuing to run the business.
“I closed the daycare down for health reasons, purely because I have a disease. I have to be careful with it,” Ahmed said. “It made more sense from a physical health point of view to close it.”
According to Griffin, Ahmed put the blame for the closure on her in an email sent to staff members, saying she had stolen money from the business.
“He said that I stole money and it’s due to my problems in my personal life. I took that email and gave it to the RCMP yesterday. They told me he had left a voicemail saying I had stole $1,000 and they said there’s no investigation into this – he had nothing,” she said. “But that’s basically his excuse. Even if that was the case, which definitely it was not, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing everything I can (to keep the daycare going).”
Ahmed pulled the centre’s licensing on Nov. 5, and staff were left with five and a half hours to close Evolve and find alternative care for the kids. Evolve was one of only two licensed child care facilities in Chestermere.
Temporarily, staff have set up daycare service at the Chestermere Recreation Centre.
“We took any kids that we had that didn’t have care and brought them to the rec centre,” Griffin said. “They gave us space, and we had Safeway and No Frills give us food.”
Staff are currently working for reduced wages – parents are being charged $50 per day, but according to Griffin, “It’s not going to cover anything.” Staff were not paid at Evolve since Oct. 10.
“The pay cycle runs on the 10th of every month. This month, because of the volume of transactions, we’ve had to wait a few days. That’s being processed,” Ahmed said.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” Griffin said, adding staff were not paid as of Nov. 12. “The email we got had nothing to do with the volume of transactions.”
A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to help support staff during the transition at legup.ca/campaigns/evolve-day-care-staff. According to Griffin, staff are currently waiting to see if they can secure funding to get back into the old Evolve building.
“The (staff) have stuck around as long as they possibly can, considering no one has any income,” she said. “They all got fired on Nov. 4 and stayed around to ensure we stayed in ratio.”
In the meantime, parents of children at Evolve have received emails that promise refunds for service. According to the Evolve website, “Customers should note that the accounting and refund process has begun and any applicable refunds will be issued by check and in due course.”
“Refunds have already been processed,” Ahmed said.
“The accountant has sent the cheques. (It will take) three to five business days.”
