ST. LOUIS • The same thought runs through the laundry attendant's mind whenever he passes the 25-story Roberts Tower on his way to work each morning.

"I see that," he says. "And I ask myself, 'Why can't they pay me the $450 they owe me?'"

Other employees of the boutique Roberts Mayfair Hotel, which abuts the $70 million Roberts Tower condo project in downtown St. Louis, are wondering the same thing. Several times since January, the Mayfair has been delinquent in paying its hourly employees, according to four employees who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution.

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Mike Roberts — who owns the hotel and many other businesses with his brother, Steve — acknowledged the payroll problems but insisted they are not "long-standing." But he conceded that Mayfair workers were paid 10 days late this month and that the problem extended to other businesses owned by the brothers. He declined to elaborate on the extent of the delayed payments.

The brothers, both former St. Louis aldermen, own a passel of other hotels, media properties and businesses in St. Louis and elsewhere. The payroll problems, he said, have nothing to do with the brothers' ongoing financial and legal troubles, including squabbles with creditors and vendors around the country, in some cases for alleged nonpayment.

Rather, Mike Roberts said, the tardy payments stem from administrative foul-ups in the company's accounting department.

Each of the 76 subsidiaries in the Robertses' network dispatches payroll information to the company's St. Louis headquarters. Accountants in the corporate offices in turn forward the payroll to a third-party vendor that writes and distributes the checks to what Mike Roberts describes as "hundreds and hundreds of workers."

But the process of getting the payroll to the vendor gets delayed when the subsidiaries overwhelm the accounting department by submitting payroll data simultaneously, Roberts said.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has received several complaints about late paychecks from employees of the Roberts Companies, said department spokeswoman Amy Susan. Some complaints allege delays of a week or more, she said.

The department levies violations against companies that are 16 days late in delivering payroll, but has not done so against the Robertses. Violators can be fined from $50 to $500 per infraction.

 

Mike Roberts denied employee allegations that delinquent payments were part of a pattern. "I don't recognize this as a long-standing problem," he said.

The employees contend otherwise.

"It seems like it started out being a couple of days late," said a manager at the hotel who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Then it was a week late. Then two weeks late. A couple of weeks ago, we were paid on time. But you can't rely on it."

"Slow money is better than no money at all," said another hotel employee.

The employees say the inconsistent flow of income into their own checking accounts has caused them to fall behind on rent, utility payments and child support checks.

Some Mayfair workers have been forced to stay home, unable to get to their jobs because they can't afford gas or public transportation.

"They want to come in, but they can't," said one employee. "They don't have enough money to get here."

Another employee said he chanced receiving a summons rather than put his job at risk by missing a day of work.

"I managed to get there," the employee said. "But I had to hop the MetroLink illegally."

If they believed they could find another job, the employees said, they would quit.

"But with the economy the way it is, we feel like they are saying, 'Take it or leave it,'" one of the workers said.

Mike Roberts said he and his brother "empathize with the employees totally."

FINANCIAL WOES

Roberts said there was no connection between the payroll delays and separate financial issues at the company's other properties.

Despite a corporate net worth estimated at $500 million in 2004, the Robertses have frequently tangled legally with vendors and creditors around the country.

A Los Angeles judge, concurring that Roberts Broadcasting had failed to meet contractual obligations for syndicated programming, awarded CBS Corp. a judgment exceeding $1 million in March. Another suit filed in Los Angeles alleges Roberts Broadcasting owes $1.4 million to Warner Bros. in another licensing dispute.

Missouri court records, meanwhile, reflect liens against the company for smaller amounts in unpaid taxes and fees for services.

The Roberts Tower is currently occupied by Shula's 347 Grill, a ground-floor steak house. The condominiums are slated to go on sale next year.

The Hotel Indigo, refurbished by the brothers in the Central West End, is now operating as a Comfort Inn and Suites. One contractor on the building's renovation, DK Interior Solutions, won a $320,000 judgment over bills that the Roberts brothers' company allegedly did not pay. The contractor had to seek repayment through a lawsuit and garnishments.

The Robertses shed last year one of the cornerstones of their business empire, a communications tower subsidiary. At the time of the sale last year, Mike Roberts said the company planned to use the proceeds from the $88.5 million sale to shore up other interests, particularly real estate holdings.

"I don't think any of us are immune from the economic downturn," Mike Roberts said on Monday.

One of the Mayfair employees — the one who said he jumped a MetroLink turnstile to get to work — said the Roberts brothers weren't the only ones feeling the economic pinch.

The Mayfair employees would like nothing more than to bring their hardships to the attention of the owners when they visit the hotel.

The prospect of losing their only source of income — late though it may be — stops the employees short.

"A lot of us want to speak up," said one $8-an-hour employee. "But we feel like we don't have any choice but to look at it as, 'Thank God I have a job.'"