- The Wonderwafel shops in Bern and Ebikon are closed.
- The employees continued to run the stores for weeks without contact with the boss.
- Then they found out about the bankruptcy.
“We used the last money in the till to buy flour, eggs and fruit at Migros so that we could prepare waffles for our customers. Until nothing worked anymore,” says S.* The employer at Wonder waffle in Bern had not been reachable since the beginning of the year.
Since the branch manager resigned at the end of last year, she and her colleagues no longer had anyone to contact. “Messages went unanswered and calls went nowhere. “The boss didn’t respond to written reminders either,” she tells 20 Minutes.
“We depend on the money”
It wasn’t until last Friday that the boss got in touch again to announce the bankruptcy. S. and her eleven employees in the Bern branch were still waiting for their December wages. “The boss has now promised us the necessary documents, but he said that we have to fight for compensation ourselves.”
Most of the team are students between 17 and 20 years old. They rely on the money to pay rent and health insurance. Nevertheless, they continued to operate the store in the last few weeks without the boss. “We served the customers, organized processes and took on responsibility.”
Work until supplies run out
The boss was responsible for ordering the goods, but did nothing more. That’s why they closed the waffle shop two weeks ago. «We had no choice. We ran out of supplies and could therefore no longer make waffle dough,” says S.
She appears desperate: “We are hopeless, without any prospects. The uncertainty and silence of our boss have put enormous strain on us psychologically and financially.” They divided the tip between themselves so that the boss couldn’t take it for himself.
Another branch in Ebikon affected
Wonderwaffle is a franchise concept backed by a company from Germany. The company and the franchisee cannot be reached within 20 minutes upon request. In addition to the location in Bern, this has another location in Ebikon LU.
According to a news scout, employees there have also been waiting for their wages since December and have closed the shop. The information about the bankruptcy also came on Friday, without any further explanation. “To date, no information has been given as to what will happen next, how employees will get their wages or who they can contact. I find this approach to be absolutely unacceptable,” said the news scout. Other Wonderwaffle locations should not be affected.
What would you do if your boss suddenly disappeared and you no longer received wages?
Alain Gysin from the Unia union says the case reminds him of the traditional Bern company Schär + Trojahn. The bosses there also suddenly disappeared last fall and the employees no longer received any wages.
“Some of the employees will continue to work there for months and hope that bankruptcy will be declared soon,” says Gysin to 20 Minutes. Without bankruptcy, employees would not be able to claim compensation.
*Editor’s name known.
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Fabian Pöschl (fpo) has been working for 20 minutes since 2020. He is responsible for business news in the News, Economy & Video Reports department.
