Next workers left out of pocket after payroll errors
Thousands of Next’s workers have been underpaid over several months after the bungled implementation of new payroll system back in February.
According to The Sunday Times, the retailer has also deducted pension payments from some staff without investing them in their retirement pots.
An “insider” told the newspaper: “Most of us haven’t been paid right since the change in system. A lot of people are using food banks or putting holiday days in because they can’t afford to fuel their cars to get to work.”
However, some staff have been overpaid in some instances which has led to some not being able to access universal credit.
The newspaper said Next’s retail sales director, Shonnagh Taylor, had told staff that the company had at one stage been receiving up to 113 calls a day regarding pay issues, but these had now dropped to around 50 a day.
A Next spokesperson told The Sunday Times: “We have experienced a number of issue with our new payroll system and have been tackling them as a matter of urgency. This is one of the very few instances where Next has outsourced critical software and we have learnt some important lessons about integrating our in house applications with third party platforms.
“We are acutely aware of the problems these payroll errors have caused some of our colleagues . We sincerely apologise to all those affected.”
Next employs 43,000 people.
