Staff of ‘Hot Chocolate’ petitioned District Collector Archana Patnaik demanded action against the management here on Monday, for not creating a healthy surrounding for them in its restaurant chain.

In a petition the members have alleged that from recruiting till relieving an employee, the company did not follow any legal procedures.

“There is no appointment order and not even a pay slip. We are paid in instalments and not in full and we do not know about the payment details of the job,” one of the staff said.

He also stated that staff were not given proper food by the management and were provided unhygienic food in plastic bags.

“Even the kitchens in the three branches are not clean and healthy. We have received many complaints from customers regarding the poor quality of the food. But when we take the issue to the management, we are asked to keep the issue a secret and not reveal to others,” he said, adding that the issues were largely left unattended.

Claiming that more than 50 staff were working in all three branches of the restaurant chain on Avinashi Road and Brook Fields Mall, they said that when they questioned about the delay in salaries, they were threatened by the management. They also mentioned that they worked for more than eight hours in a single shift.