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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Tesco to pay out nearly £10m to staff after payroll errors | Tesco to pay out nearly £10m to staff after payroll errors |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Tesco is to reimburse 140,000 current and former staff members a total of £9.7m after payroll errors meant they were paid below the national minimum wage. | Tesco is to reimburse 140,000 current and former staff members a total of £9.7m after payroll errors meant they were paid below the national minimum wage. |
| Britain’s biggest supermarket chain said the majority of workers affected would receive up to £40. Tesco employs 320,000 people in the UK. | Britain’s biggest supermarket chain said the majority of workers affected would receive up to £40. Tesco employs 320,000 people in the UK. |
| The error was uncovered during the implementation of a new payroll system, Tesco said. | The error was uncovered during the implementation of a new payroll system, Tesco said. |
| A review of its systems found that mistakes had been made for some workers who paid into voluntary schemes such as pensions, childcare vouchers, and cycle to work programmes. As a result, their pay after such salary sacrifice did not reach national minimum wage levels. | A review of its systems found that mistakes had been made for some workers who paid into voluntary schemes such as pensions, childcare vouchers, and cycle to work programmes. As a result, their pay after such salary sacrifice did not reach national minimum wage levels. |
| The current national minimum wage is £7.20 an hour for workers who are 25 and over and £6.95 for 21- to 24-year-olds. | The current national minimum wage is £7.20 an hour for workers who are 25 and over and £6.95 for 21- to 24-year-olds. |
| Matt Davies, the UK and Ireland chief executive at Tesco, said: “As soon as our own review identified this issue we took immediate action to resolve it and establish which colleagues are affected. | Matt Davies, the UK and Ireland chief executive at Tesco, said: “As soon as our own review identified this issue we took immediate action to resolve it and establish which colleagues are affected. |
| “We’ve apologised to our colleagues and our priority now is to talk to them about how this affects them individually, and make any necessary payments. We expect payments to be up to £40 for the majority of affected colleagues.” | “We’ve apologised to our colleagues and our priority now is to talk to them about how this affects them individually, and make any necessary payments. We expect payments to be up to £40 for the majority of affected colleagues.” |
| Tesco said it had checked pay over the last six year and that it would pay the money owed by the end of March. The retailer has notified HM Revenue and Customs and the shopworkers’ union, Usdaw, of the error. | |
| Debenhams was among a list of 360 employers named and shamed by the government last month for underpaying staff. The department store chain topped the list of offenders after nearly 12,000 of the department store’s workers were short-changed. | |
| Margot James, business minister, said Tesco’s announcement showed the government’s approach to enforcing the minimum wage was working. | |
| “We expose companies who fail to pay workers at least the minimum wage, but where there has been underpayment it is preferable that companies identify, and correct, that underpayment themselves,” she said. | |
| “It is completely unacceptable for any worker to be underpaid and everybody should check their pay ahead of the national minimum and living wages rising on 1 April.” |