Tesco has found itself embroiled in a redundancy pay blunder after overpaying and underpaying hundreds of employees it recently let go.
The retail giant’s chief exec, Dave Lewis, has reportedly apologised for distress caused by the issue and said letters were sent to resolve the errors as soon as they were discovered.
According to the Press Association, up to 300 people were affected – and some were overpaid by as much as £2,000.
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Tesco is said to be working on reclaiming the overpayments, having already paid the right amounts to the former workers who did not receive enough.
Speaking to the Mirror, a spokesperson for Tesco said a “small number” of colleagues were affected, calling it an “administrative error”.
They continued: “Colleagues who were underpaid were paid the correct amount within one to two working days and this issue is now resolved.
“We have been in touch with colleagues who were overpaid to apologise, and we will be fair to colleagues affected, taking account of individual circumstances.”
Tesco has said that anyone overpaid by more than £500 can keep £100, while those overpaid less than £500 will be able to keep the full amount.
The employees made redundant had their roles cut earlier this year, under a sweeping redundancy programme expected to impact the region of 9,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
The plans include the closure and reduction of its deli counters across the country and cuts at its Hertfordshire head office.
Just recently, the firm revealed plans to give thousands of staff a pay rise this September while taking away their annual bonus.
It follows reports of a sharp slowdown in its underlying sales growth last week (June 13), blamed on a dip in consumer spending attributed to political uncertainty and the weather.
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Like-for-like sales in the supermarket giant’s first quarter, the three months ending May 25, were up 0.4% against the same period in 2018.
According to a report in the Guardian, Tesco boss Dave Lewis said the firm’s turnaround plan is on track and it outperformed its closest rivals in a “subdued market”.
He said: “There is some weakening in consumer sentiment in the UK and clearly part of that is driven by the political situation. The other element [is] obviously the weather.”
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