Something for the weekend: In what is quite the opposite of the current talk of ‘quiet quitting’, employees at theme park Tivoli World in Benalmadena, Spain have continued taking good care of their place of work, even after its ride came to an end.
Like many businesses, the theme park closed during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, and although it reopened for a couple of months, it was unable to stay open any longer, due to running cost issues, legal litigation and a debt of €11.2 million (£9.6 million).
However, 87 employees were never properly let go, and as of August, had not been paid for 10 months. Due to a clause in their contract, they found themselves unable to go and work somewhere else if they are still technically employed by Tivoli World, and ineligible for compensation or unemployment insurance if they just walked away without being made officially redundant.
Stuck in limbo, many would take the opportunity to slack off, but while waiting for Malaga’s Commercial Court No1 to decide whether to terminate their labour contracts, these members of staff have diligently continued to spend their weekdays taking care of maintenance and cleaning, keeping the park in good condition in the hopes it might reopen.
This even includes guarding the theme park at night and over the weekends, deterring thieves from looking for items to steal and sell, such as electric cables and machinery. Indeed, on Friday 26 August, three individuals were caught and arrested for allegedly attempting to illegally acquire tools. They were discovered by a night watchman at around 1.45am.
Here at Employee Benefits, we sympathise with the difficult position these employees have been put in, but applaud their diligence in keeping up standards just in case – now that’s employee engagement!