“For many of us who worked there, it was like one minute we had jobs, and the next we didn’t.”
A Braci Bar and Grill employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, says staff members were notified of the business’ impending closure in a meeting on Monday, June 17, giving them about one week’s notice.
The restaurant, which specialised in grilled dishes and Italian cuisine, opened in September 2023 at 2/10 St George’s Rd in Shepparton and suddenly stopped operations on Saturday, June 22.
Since then, a mind-boggling churn of speculation has flooded social media.
However, this former employee has reached out to The News to disclose what occurred behind dining hall doors.
According to the former employee, the two primary owners were often absent, showing little interest in the day-to-day running of the business, and did not interact with their staff.
They also claimed that the owners were slow to pay wages several times.
For the workers, “alarm bells started going off” when they became aware that some of Braci’s suppliers had ceased trading with them.
“One night, we were at work, and one of the chefs said that a supplier of ours rang and said, ‘You can’t get any more products from us because you owe us this much money’,” they said.
“They (the owners) couldn’t get products from where they originally got them, so they had to buy them from supermarkets, and the quality of the food went downhill.”
From then on, it was clear — Braci was on life support.
The restaurant’s sudden closure baffled the Shepparton community, as no notice was posted on its establishment doors or on social media.
The impact extended beyond the organisation to many individuals.
“When they closed down, the owners didn’t want to notify all the people who had booked upcoming functions — that was left up to the manager and the chefs to do,” they said.
“They just closed the doors.”
It was a short, hard fall for Braci, but the wait for its employees who had lost their jobs was much longer.
“We weren’t paid within the next week of closing down,” the former employee said.
“It came as a bit of a shock ... many people didn’t have jobs to fall back on.
“There were a few that did, I was not one of them.”
As far as this former employee is concerned, all the staff have now received their owed wages.
They noted that the manager, chefs and fellow workers did their best under the circumstances.
The News attempted to contact the owners for comments, but they were unable to be reached.
For more information about your rights, responsibilities and entitlements under Australian workplace laws, visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline at 13 13 94.
If you have purchased a voucher from Braci Bar and Grill that is still valid, you can find information about your legal rights as a consumer at www.accc.gov.au/consumers/stay-protected/when-a-business-goes-bust