Former employees of Wild Spirit Education in Saskatoon claim they are owed tens of thousands of dollars in missing wages. Our Mackenzie Mazankowski has more on the seven former employees who spoke to Global News.Wild Spirit Education Ltd. is a registered independent school for toddlers, preschool, kindergarten and grades 1 through 12, run by Christa Nelson, the head of the school. The school is licensed by the province but is not government-funded.
“Over time, it became significant amounts of times and significant amounts of money. And by the time it’s been almost half a year, and you’re missing multiple thousands of dollars,” said Ella Hagen, a former teacher of Wild Spirit Education.“We were just met with excuses and blame, and it was very frustrating,” said Jamie Cleveland, a former educational essistant at Wild Spirit Education.
The Ministry of Labour Relations stated it “has received several claims from employees at Wild Spirit Education Ltd. for unpaid wages, and the Employment Standards Branch is investigating.”Global News contacted Nelson, who, in an emailed statement, said she is working with the ministry regarding claims of former employees but made no further comments on the allegations.
But Cleveland says that over the years, those “red flags” started piling up. She and some other employees were making monthly insurance payments through Nelson. She claims it was only during a medical emergency with her child that she found out she didn’t have any insurance.“She knew darn well that I didn’t have hundreds and hundreds of dollars just sitting for an emergency because I hadn’t even been paid my salary for the last couple of months at that point, either,” Cleveland said.