Government Intervenes in BetonSports Employee Situation
The more than 1.400 employees of BetonSports were promised payment when the company decided to close down operations in Costa Rica, following a board of directors decision as the president and other officials of BoS face legal problems in the U.S.

The laid off employees were promised on August 10 that they would receive their full salaries and severances within 30 days of closing.

However, that never happened and 877 employees are still waiting to get their money. And this is the reason why the Ministerio de Trabajo (ministry of labour) had to intervene.

According to Rodrigo Acuña, the last employees waiting their paycheck and who are reportedly owed some us$4.3 millions dollars, will get a partial payment tomorrow (November10), with the remaining balance to be paid not later than December 15.

The payment of November 10 represents 30% of what BoS owes to its former employees, said Acuña.

The Ministerio de Trabajo intervened because the company had 90 days, the maximum time allowed under Costa Rican laws, to settle dues with former employees.

Acuña said that Trabajo will monitor this process by ensuring that each and every former employee may access the RAC (Resolución Alternativa de Conflictos) process.

"The company has the money to pay. We are doing everything possible to access existing resources." Francisco Conejo who representing BoS.

The order in which payments to creditors would have been made was announced by the BoS Board of Directors on August 10.

"The BoS directors made the decision to shut down their operations in Costa Rica and re-open in Antigua,; pay its liabilities to staff and creditors in an orderly manner; and repay balances due to U.S. customers as well.

The payment to staff and creditors will depend on the successful completion on BoS's ability to persuade banks and cash processors to release its funds. It also will depend on the BoS’s ability to realize further and sufficient funds from its assets and operations outside Costa Rica and Antigua and to earn sufficient profits from operations which are not US facing", said Conejo.

U.S. customers’ hopes to receive their account balances within the end of 2006 are probably fading Ex-employees are privileged creditors and will be paid first.