Brighton Sushi Restaurant Staff Battle for Unpaid Wages After Franchise Takeover

Staff left in limbo after ownership change

Three former employees of YouMeSushi on North Street have described facing financial difficulty after struggling to receive wages owed to them following a franchise takeover.

Bushra Jahan, 23, Paras Sharma, 22, and Mohammad Sahadat Hossain, 37, all stopped working at the sushi restaurant after Sushi Fusion Brighton Limited took over operation of the franchise on 13 July, replacing the previous operator YM Sushi Limited.

Staff were told the new owners would be responsible for paying wages from 1 July onwards. However, the three former employees spent weeks seeking outstanding payments after completing their final shifts.

Timeline of delays

Paras Sharma worked his last shift on 13 August. When he spoke to The Argus on 6 October, he said he had not received payment for work undertaken between 1 July and 13 August. He calculated he had worked 266.5 hours in July and a further 125.25 hours up to 13 August, totalling £4,979.14 before tax at the minimum wage of £12.71 an hour.

Employees expected July wages to arrive around 9 August, with August wages following around 9 September.

Mr Sharma repeatedly approached the business about his outstanding pay. On 8 September, he emailed contacts at YouMeSushi saying his July and August wages remained unpaid and requesting a specific payment date. He wrote: "I have tried calling you several times regarding my outstanding wages, but unfortunately, my calls have not been answered."

On 16 September, he sent another email giving the business seven days to pay, warning he would consider contacting Acas if the matter remained unresolved. An email dated 24 September confirmed he had notified Acas, an independent public body which helps employers and workers resolve workplace disputes.

Owner's account

New franchise owner Muhammad Abdullah told The Argus he inherited a "difficult situation" when taking over the restaurant. He cited a lack of payroll records documenting how many hours employees had worked between 1 and 12 July. He said the difficulty of establishing what hours had been worked in this period led to the delay in wages being paid.

Mr Abdullah said there was never any possibility that wages would not be paid once disputes over hours owed had been resolved.

Mr Sharma said the delayed payment caused him hardship. "For six weeks I was really struggling, because I didn't get paid for two months. I have bills to pay," he said.

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