Metro Urgent Care Clinics Close, Leaving Employees High & Dry
DENVER (CBS4) - Employees for Metro Urgent Care clinics across the state say they are owed lost wages and benefits since the business abruptly closed earlier in the month.
"Rumors started to pile on more and more at the beginning of the year," said Shannon Haddock, a former X-Ray tech and medial assistant.
She first heard about other clinics receiving eviction notices in December. Then other employees said they were not receiving paystubs or 401k matching contributions.
"July 18th it got very real because it was my clinic," she told CBS4 on Monday.
Haddock has more than a decade of experience in the industry. Employees like her joined the company because the compensation was better than what anyone else was offering in the market. But the past month has been a challenge for employees to get all of the money they earned.
Haddock estimates she is out $2,500 in lost wages.
"Incredibly nerve-wracking, devastating," she said of the past few weeks. "Thankfully I prepared a little bit."
Other employees have not been able to adjust to the loss of income as well, Haddock said, and the job search has not been easy for most of them. She has found part-time work beginning next month.
Haddock has also looked at jobs outside of her field to help pay the bills.
"It's not going to last. They're paying people too much. They don't have the clientele yet," she remembers people saying when the business opened. "There are way too many clinics out there."
Other employees also told CBS4 the problems they're facing because they are no longer employed by the company. They said management has yet to get back to their requests for more information and lost wages.
CBS4 was unable to get in touch with Metro Urgent Care for this story.
A group of former employees are working together to get a response from the HR team at the company. They are also filing a complaint with the Department of Labor.
Haddock says there is not a lot patients can do to avoid going to a clinic in a similar financial situation. Her office had good reviews even though they were facing eviction. But she hopes employees in the industry will take this as a lesson.
"Read the signs, listen to your intuition," she said.