Locked Out of My Workplace
I work for a small chain retailer and on May 1st I got locked out of my workplace with no notice. Prior to May 1st there was some back and forth with the owner of the store and the plaza landlord. To my understanding, there was a miscommunication with rent payments and the plaza had changed the locks without notice. The owner of the store had then gone and drilled out the new locks and had set up a plan to have new cylinders put in. All this happened between April 23rd and 26th while I was off. I came back to work on the 27th to a bike lock holding the doors closed and was told the locks were going to be put in the next day. That day (27th) a representative from the plaza showed up and said that he was going to have to call the police because it's technically breaking and entering. The police showed up on the 28th and had a talk with the plaza and store owners and came to the conclusion that we were allowed to stay open but had to give a copy of the new key to the plaza. The key exchange was supposed to happen on the 30th but I was sick and had to call in. Since I was the only employee (the only other employee was on vacation), I had messaged the owner saying that I would not be able to make it in. During this, there were managers from two other stores fixing up inventory and they had the new keys and were supposed to be there on the 30th. Turns out they had to leave to open a new store and never showed up. I came in on May 1st to a concrete slab completely blocking the entrance. I had immediately called the store owner to tell him the situation and he had said he would get his son (the co-owner) to call me with the game plan. I happen to have a friend who's mom works a couple doors down in the same plaza who had told me that the slab was there when she came in to open her store at 9:30 (the plaza stores open at 10:00) and reassured me that even if I was able to make it in that day I would not have been able to open the store or had time to give the plaza the spare key.
Since my phone call with the owner on May 1st I have not heard a word from either owners. They won't pick up my calls or answer any texts. I have also not gotten paid for the 2 days I was able to work prior to the slab, let alone any pay I was scheduled for. There has been a history of the company not paying their employees on time, if at all. (The paycheck for my first two weeks was 6 weeks late, and I had to fight tooth and nail for it) I have put in a ticket with the Ontario Labour Board for the missed and unpaid wages, and have applied for EI.
Is there anything else I should/can be doing other than getting a lawyer?