Jollibean Staff In Limbo After Outlet Closures, Wage & CPF Delayed

As quickly as an iconic F&B mannequin with better than 30 retailers islandwide, Singapore soy milk retailer Jollibean has quietly shut numerous retailers before now 12 months, allegedly with out giving employees prior uncover or rationalization, CNA reported.

Jollibean’s website online lists merely eight remaining retailers in Singapore; however, in response to the knowledge report, three of these have since closed as of July 8, 2025.

Storefronts at Ng Teng Fong Frequent Hospital and Raffles Place MRT Station have been “boarded up,” whereas the Lavender MRT Station outlet had a uncover on the door stating that the premises had been “repossessed” by SMRT Trains from June 30 this 12 months.

A lot of employees who spoke to CNA moreover claimed that they’ve been owed months of salaries and Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions. Former staff have been allegedly left in a limbo, after they arrived at work solely to go looking out out that their outlet had been closed with out prior uncover.

What current & former staff wanted to say

A former employee who labored on the Pioneer MRT station outlet, which closed on December 27, 2024, suggested the publication that all 5 staff members misplaced their jobs that exact same day when the outlet was repossessed by SMRT Trains.

The 68-year-old had labored on the outlet for the earlier 5 to six years on a part-time basis, and recalled being suggested to close the shop immediately upon arriving for work.

“The second I stepped through the door, my chief talked about ‘within the current day you don’t should work, it’s important shut retailer’,” she talked about in Mandarin in a cellphone interview with CNA. “She didn’t say why… I known as my co-workers to tell them that the store is closing and to return down and see it for the ultimate time.”

She added that Jollibean nonetheless owed her wage for the ultimate month of labor, which portions to better than S$1,000, along with three months of unpaid CPF.

The ex-employee, along with totally different affected staff members, visited Jollibean’s headquarters in Pasir Panjang over their owed salaries sometime in January or February, and have been suggested that the money could be credited by the next month and would receive a letter of guarantee that they’d be paid. 

Nonetheless, she shared that there was no data since then. When requested if she had considered lodging a report with the authorities, the unnamed staff talked about she was unwilling to endure the issue.

“At first, we labored so laborious and didn’t receives a fee, so now we have been very emotional. Now I really feel, merely neglect it,” she talked about. “I’ll merely cope with it as charity.”

One different part-timer, a 74-year-old girl who labored on the same outlet for over a decade, has approached the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Administration (TADM) for help, and is the one one from the employees to take motion. 

Whereas she was initially able to let the matter go, her son steered in every other case. “He talked about that it’s my hard-earned money, even when it’s merely S$1,000, why don’t you get it once more?”

Upon approaching TADM collectively along with her son in April, the organisation labored out a scheme for Jollibean to pay the wage in month-to-month instalments. Nonetheless, she claimed to have “not obtained a cent” since her go to.

“The authorities have intervened, nonetheless the agency stays to be dragging its ft; it’s hopeless. And it’s money earned from laborious work, not merely money you get from sitting spherical,” she talked about.

Nonetheless, a 40-year-old employee working at a particular outlet in central Singapore, who had been employed by Jollibean for spherical three years, shared that her wages nonetheless acquired right here in recurrently, nonetheless after a delay of over a month. She added that she was “improbable” with the current situation.

New proprietor to step in

Addressing the store closures, Shahrul Nazrin Mohd Dahlan, the director of Jollibean Meals, talked about they’ve been part of a broader downsizing practice.

He added that the company will rapidly have a model new proprietor and is working fastidiously with the authorities to resolve wage factors, though he didn’t reveal the rationale for not paying staff on time.

“We’re resolving it with MOM [and] we’re settling it by the highest of this week. Each half goes to be resolved rapidly, there’s a model new capital injection with a model new shareholder, so each factor is perhaps resolved financially,” he talked about.

Primarily based on Shahrul, the occasions are at current throughout the midst of ending the paperwork and are anticipated to settle funds by the highest of this month. He moreover talked about that he intends to resign as quickly because the model new proprietor takes over—reportedly sometime in July—though he declined to disclose their id.

“The model new householders taking over… they’ve been throughout the F&B enterprise for better than 30 years, so that they know what they’re doing. They’re taking over after which they [are] growing.” 

Whatever the dearth of readability and ongoing price delays, some Jollibean employees suggested CNA that they’re persevering with to work, holding out hope that their wages is perhaps paid as quickly because the model new “boss” steps in.

In response to media queries from the publication, the Meals, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), a commerce union affiliated to the Nationwide Trades Union Congress (NTUC), talked about that Jollibean is a non-unionised agency. 

“Affected staff can technique the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Administration to make an appointment for advisory corporations on employment disputes, an FDAWU spokesperson talked about in an announcement issued to CNA on Wednesday (Jul 9).

Vulcan Publish has reached out to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for extra comment. 

Featured Image Credit score rating: DD by way of Google Maps/ Singapore Atrium Sale by way of Fb