Tomorrow, he plans to finally throw in the towel and join the queue waiting to be paid what he is owed - more than $6000.
The manager, who does not want to be named because of the threats he has received over the company's failure to pay wages, says he is often asked why he has hung on so long.
"This might sound stupid, but I've got a duty of care to my staff. People have said that's silly. But no. They'll always come first and, despite what my managing director might have done, I still have a duty of care to my staff."
His managing director is Wellington-based Greg Thomas, who is not answering calls from the media or from staff wanting to know if they will be paid wages owing.
Mr Thomas bought Southern Cleaning Services Otago in 2006 from Dunedin residents Glen and Joanne Campbell.
Mr Campbell told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he was proud of the company he had built up from nothing in 10 years.
He had 175 employees and major cleaning contracts when he sold it.
Now, it had fewer than 20 staff, had lost contracts and was "probably worth zip".
For that reason, Mr Campbell said he was no longer intending to have the company put into liquidation over the $92,000 he was still owed by Mr Thomas.
A High Court finding in his favour had cost him $25,000 in legal fees and he had had "nothing back".
Liquidation proceedings, he had been told, would cost him another $10,000 to $15,000.
He believed it was time for the Labour Department to take action on behalf of creditors and staff owed money by the company.
The company's manager also wants action.
"Wouldn't the company have to wind up? Wouldn't someone have to put their hand up? But no-one seems to have."
Labour Department spokesman Iain McLean said yesterday liquidation was a last resort and the department was working through the Employment Relations Authority to recover workers' pay.
The authority had so far found six workers were owed money, but more information was needed about another 53 claims by Dunedin and Queenstown workers and the department was planning to take Southern Cleaning's parent company, Broadbat, to court to obtain wage and time records.
Broadbat is owned by Mr Thomas.
Two weeks ago, the Service and Food Workers Union advised members to stop working for the company because of the risk of not being paid.
Organiser Michelle Thomas, however, is dealing with four former employees owed wages and holiday pay and with three employees who had continued to work and, while not paid by the company, have been paid directly by clients.
One of them is Kelly Bennett (28), of Musselburgh, who says she is owed $1700 for "just over" a fortnight's work at Moana Pool consisting of 136 hours - 6am-3pm and 8.30pm-12.30pm - at a pay rate of $13.50 an hour.
By tomorrow, she expected to be out of a job when another company took over the pool contract.
