Employees at the Paget florist Just Roses are up in arms after the discovery the company has not been paying into their pension and insurance schemes for years, has learned.

Two separate sources have confirmed owner Julie Mayor has been taking the funds out of their paycheques, but has not kept up with payments herself since Hurricane Fabian in 2003.

One employee, a source claimed, is a diabetic and has been unable to obtain the necessary insurance cover for her medication as the insurance payments have not been forthcoming for well over a year. understands that employees have contacted officials within the Social Insurance Department at the Ministry of Finance and the Pension Commission, although the issue has not yet been fully resolved.

?All the employees are sick and tired of the situation,? one source said.

?They have spent countless hours on the telephone and running around from office to office trying to get some answers. But nothing has yet been done and they believe their employer has been getting away with this for far too long.?

When contacted on Wednesday, Just Roses owner Julie Mayor admitted her business had run into some financial difficulties after Hurricane Fabian, but said she was working with the relevant authorities to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

?It is all being sorted out,? she said.

?We are a small business and we have had some problems since Hurricane Fabian. But to be honest I?m very disappointed this has found its way into the media because the whole situation is under control.?

Nobody from the Department of Social Insurance or the Pensions Commission would comment on the case.