The Hotel Formentor on the Bay of Pollensa has been a source of controversy ever since it was acquired by the Emin Capital investment group at the end of 2020. Planning and environmental regulations have been the main cause of controversies, and employee relations have now been added. The hotel is managed by the Canadian Four Seasons group.
At least four employees have filed lawsuits against Emin and Four Seasons for what they claim has been 'job degradation'. They are demanding reinstatement in their former jobs with the same conditions they had when the hotel closed for redevelopment. Staff were promised they would be working at the most luxurious hotel in Spain, but instead they are serving at two beach bars. On June 21, when the former Platja Mar restaurant is due to reopen as the Llum i Sal restaurant, a protest is planned.
One says: "They respect our salary and status, but they won't let us access the Four Seasons facilities. We've been working for the Hotel Formentor for over 25 years, and now they've relegated us to the beach bars. It's like driving a Porsche and getting it replaced with a Seat 600. It takes you to the same place, but you're not as comfortable."
For some three years after the acquisition from the Mallorcan Barceló group, the owners and Four Seasons said they would retain all of the employees' jobs. There were 160; now there are around 30. Only four are actually working at the hotel, and in order to achieve this they had to waive their acquired rights. The rest are employed at the beach bars.
"They've removed us from a hotel where we had worked all our lives, and now that they're opening the old Platja Mar restaurant they don't want us either. The conditions they demand to work at the Four Seasons Formentor, in terms of hours and days off, are those used in hotels in Mexico."
They feel "belittled" and fear they will lose out financially, given that the hotel is open more months a year than the beach bars. "Annual income and contribution period will be reduced."
Things are said to have started to get difficult last year. There was a string of sick leave and complaints among those who joined the hotel. The old shifts and schedules are a thing of the past; Four Seasons applies a system of equal employee rotation, which "eliminates acquired rights and adaptations for health problems or work-life balance". Those who had been at the beach bars "temporarily" until the redevelopment was completed were informed this year that this was now permanent.
Emin Capital and Four Seasons have both declined to comment.