A popular Malaysian dessert chain, Bubblebbe recently went viral for allegedly NOT paying its employees’ EPF for months. Just last night (November 10), the founder, Shuib Sepahtu, who is also a local comedian took to his Instagram and clarified the matter which was initially circulated by an unknown employee.
In case you’re wondering if KWSP is aware of the matter, Shuib said the management had spoken to the organisation earlier and came to a middle ground.
“We have been gradually paying the outstanding EPF of the workers since early 2022.”
Shuib also admitted that 2023 has NOT been a good year for the F&B industry and unfortunately, his dessert chain is also seeing a massive drop in sales, so much so that the financial department had trouble paying the workers’ EPF. However, Shuib said that the anonymous letter was exaggerating.
“The content of the letter makes it look like we’re ignoring the matter completely. We’re not.”
As for how it started, Shuib claimed it started with the previous management of Bubblebee.
No pay cuts, even during MCO
Despite the outstanding EPF payments, Shuib said that Bubblebee has gone through tough times like MCO during the peak of the pandemic. Despite the tough times, he has never cut the salaries of his workers. As for the EPF payments, Shuib promised that the financial department is in the midst of clearing the outstanding payment.
“We’ve reached out to KWSP earlier this year and shared with them our situation because we knew we couldn’t afford to pay all at once. After the discussion, KWSP allowed us to clear the outstanding EPF payments in instalments.”
In the meantime, Shuib also apologised to current and past workers of Bubblebee for the outstanding payment and assured them that he would settle the issue as soon as possible.
“We will pay because that’s our responsibilities as employers. We’ve settled quite a lot and now, we’re just doing some calculations on the number of instalments,” Shuib explained.
Many businesses have suffered from financial losses and some even had to close their doors. Shuib’s hard work in managing the issues, however, shouldn’t be overlooked and we do hope that the matters will be resolved soon.
Also read: M’sian Dessert Chain That Made RM150 Mil in 3 Years Allegedly Hasn’t Paid Workers’ EPF for Months
