Whistle-blower alleges 'unlawful' practices at Codemasters

A former Codemasters employee has publicly accused the publisher of unlawful business practices and threatening former employees after his job was made redundant.

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A former Codemasters employee has publicly accused the publisher of unlawful business practices. Semi Essessi, programmer on the flop Bodycount, claims that Codemasters has threatened former staff with bankruptcy proceedings over a dispute regarding wages the company claims were mistakenly paid out.

Once a programmer at Codemaster's shuttered Guildford, England, studio, Essessi paints a picture of a workplace where his employer failed to pay employees overtime or comply with labor laws.

In a revealing blog post, Essessi said that Codemasters frequently infringed on employees' rights. Specifically, he notes that during his time as programmer for Bodycount, Codemasters failed to give workers at least 11 hours of rest between any 24-hour work period as well as a complete 24-hour break during any single work week.

"I can no longer recall if I opted out of the European Working Time Directive as part of my contract - but I believe I did," Essessi wrote, citing the law which mandates a "minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest." Essessi states that the only right that can be waived as part of opting out of the directive is that of a maximum amount of hours per week (48 hours) and that rest periods cannot be affected.

"There was no effort to enforce the directive on the part of Codemasters, which is dubious given how effectively access to the office was restricted during the consultancy period," he wrote.

In response to unpaid overtime hours, Codemasters responded to Eurogamer that while the company did "appreciate" a focus to complete the project, "it was made clear and communicated upfront to everyone that [for] those who did work, no TOIL or overtime pay would be made for those extra hours."

Following the studio's closure, Essessi said employees were given a substantial extra sum on their checks. "After lots of pub discussion the overriding opinion was that they had seen sense and had decided to pay us all a bit extra to keep us quiet about just how illegally the studio had been running," he theorized.

Soon, Codemasters came calling, saying the additional sum was given in error. After a number of deadlines were not met, a lawyer for the company sent Essessi--and presumably all employees who had failed to return the money--a letter stating the company would take failure of pay "of your insolvency, in which circumstances it will be entitled to petition for your bankruptcy."

In response to his post, a Codemasters rep said: "The company has been, and continues to be, in open dialogue with Semi regarding the reimbursement of funds paid into his account following an administrative error, as it is entitled to."

"As the conversation regarding his personal situation is ongoing, the company has not, as alleged, pursued it as a legal matter with him. The company's advisers are now aware of the additional comments that Semi has published and these will be addressed with him directly through the appropriate channels as necessary," they added.

The deadline Codemasters set before filing for bankruptcy proceedings against its former staff is January 20.

Essessi says he went public because he feels he is in the right and not because his position was made redundant. Nor does he say he is attempting to "weasel out of paying money," which he says he will gladly give back "provided [Codemasters] make it reasonable for me to do so."

"I do it because it is the right thing to do - because I am sick and tired of big businesses being incompetent and getting away with it because of fear and naivete. I don't like bullies, I never have, I never will."

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 13, 2012 5:30 PM

    Xav de Matos posted a new article, Whistle-blower alleges 'unlawful' practices at Codemasters.

    A former Codemasters employee has publicly accused the publisher of unlawful business practices and threatening former employees after his job was made redundant.

    • reply
      January 13, 2012 7:06 PM

      I'm usually inclined to believe the workers over the employers, and if the worker's claims are true, then this is dogshit, and Codemasters needs to shape the fuck up.

      • reply
        January 14, 2012 6:09 PM

        interesting... there's always two sides to a story though

        im a professional in finance and it's common to work unpaid overtime... after hours and weekends with no pay or remuneration - no one complains (ok so we prob get paid a fair bit more than it professionals).

        fact is that you often will know what will be expected before you take a job, i knew my current workplace won't pay overtime. if i was going to be upset abt that i would have looked somewhere else in the first place.

        this guy didn't keep a copy of his employment contract so i'm calling negligence on his behalf. and in every single workplace i've worked when a "substantial" extra amount is included in anyone's pay packet, payroll or management is always questioned. i have never met anyone who would write it up as a goodwill payment without first checking - fact is that someone is typing in a number on the computer and an extra zero on the end of a number makes it "substantially" larger.

        all in all codemasters may be at fault but this guy hasn't exhibited the kind of responsibility i would expect of any employee.

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      January 13, 2012 7:16 PM

      so....is bodycount even worth renting?

    • reply
      January 13, 2012 7:25 PM

      his name is Semi Essessi? that is awsome

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      January 14, 2012 6:52 AM

      What is this? Modern computers with 18th century labor practices?

    • reply
      January 14, 2012 12:15 PM

      Looks like Rockstar is going to have to step up it's game.

      • reply
        January 14, 2012 12:31 PM

        Psst, Rock* makes great games at least. Great games take toil! :D Justified sacrifice.

        This guy toiled and got canned.

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