Red Rooster staff owed thousands in wages and superannuation after seven stores shut down

When a franchisee of the roast chicken giant closed seven Queensland stores this month it left customers shocked and staff owed thousands of dollars.

EMPLOYEES of seven Red Rooster stores were owed more than $200,000 in wages and superannuation when its owner closed the Sunshine Coast restaurants last month.

The administration of Sunstate Foods Pty Ltd on October 15 resulted in seven Queensland stores being temporarily closed.

About 123 casual staff and 66 part-time or salary workers were owed about $210,000 in wages after the shock closure, according to a report on the company’s activities.

Over a month from August 27 to October 14, about $120,690 in superannuation and annual leave was also outstanding, the report notes.

It is understood Craveable Brands, the parent company of Red Rooster, has covered the employee costs.

Sunstate Foods owes 39 creditors about $379,645, according to the report on company activities.

A notice on the Red Rooster Buderim door after it reopened.

A spokeswoman for Craveable Brands told the Courier-Mail last week six of the seven stores in the Sunshine Coast area were reopened within four days.

“Red Rooster continues to work with the administrators and the landlord at Sunshine Plaza to re-open, team members of this restaurant have been be offered shifts at the other six restaurants in the interim to ensure work continuity for everyone,” she said.

“For a business that supports 190 individual business owners operating 360 restaurants with 9500 employees, this is an isolated situation that is not reflective of the incredible work our franchise partners are doing every day, 365 days a year.