Next has reportedly been underpaying staff for months as a result of the failed roll out of a new Oracle payroll system earlier this year.

The UK fashion retailer has also allegedly deducted some staff pension contributions without investing them into retirement pots which has led to backlash from employees on internal messaging apps, according to a report by The Sunday Times.

One employee told the newspaper that most staff have not been paid correctly since the new system was implemented. They also said that lots of employees are using food banks or putting holiday days in because they “can’t afford to fuel their cars to get to work”.

The company’s retail sales director Shonnagh Taylor told staff members that the retailer had taken up to more than 100 calls a day from staff making complaints about pay issues but that the number had declined to an average of 50 daily, according to the report in the Sunday Times.

“We have experienced a number of issues with our new payroll system and have been tackling them as a matter of urgency,” a Next spokesperson told the publication. “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.”

Last week it was reported that Asda staff had also been underpaid due to regular payroll errors. Some employees were being underpaid by £500 or more, according to The Guardian.

Retail Systems has approached Next and Oracle for comment.

Share Story: