Adamo Gaming Lays Off Majority Of Staff Amidst Pay Complaints, Founder Says Those Owed Money Will Be Paid

UK-based esports media company Adamo Gaming has terminated more than 35 employees, with nearly $400,000 (allegedly) still being owed to them. Employees have been complaining since October that the company was both underpaying them and paying them late. On March 2nd, Adamo Gaming suddenly cut ties with several of them, but did reassure all recently terminated employees that they would still be getting all the money that was owed to them.  

“Lack of funding was cited as Adamo’s reason for missing pay, but that’s not how the Kickstart scheme works,” said an anonymous source close to the company. “The company pays the employee, the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) verifies that the employee was paid, and then funding is sent. Withholding pay until you get funding goes against the rules of the scheme, and even if we ignore that, the company still fell short.”

Several former employees said they never received payslips or P45s. Some have said that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no record of them working for Adamo Gaming; others did receive payslips but not every month, while some said their payslips didn’t contain the correct amount of hours or pay. Some staff complained of having one week of pay withheld midway through their contract, which they were told they would get back at the end of their contracts, with some saying they never received this amount.

Others have also complained that they’re unable to receive unemployment benefit, because Adamo Gaming is allegedly reporting that they are still paying staff who left them months ago. After looking at ex-employee bank statements and DWP messages, it’s clear some received payslips but didn’t actually receive the money promised on the slip.

Some staff have made complaints to the DWP and the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service. Others said they were afraid to speak up internally for fear of upsetting management or affecting their standing as an employee.

(All information was provided by Esports News UK)