Thousands of Next workers at £9.50 an hour are underpaid for five MONTHS, forcing them to turn to food banks after a pay system malfunction
- Next has underpaid thousands of employees struggling with the cost of living crisis
- The problem started after it moved to a new Oracle payment system in February
- One worker was underpaid by more than £200, and some staff took advantage of food banks
- Others take annual leave because they can’t afford to fill their car for commuting
High street fashion retailer Next has underpaid thousands of employees, forcing them to turn to food banks amid the cost of living crisis, after a failed salary system change.
The company, which has about 43,000 employees, has underpaid large numbers of employees after it switched to a new payment system from Oracle in February.
Some employee retirement contributions were also withheld and not invested in the retirement savings plans, sparking anger among employees on internal messaging systems.
As a result, some workers have turned to food banks and can’t fill their cars with fuel – they book vacation because they can’t get to work.
In another case, an employee was underpaid by more than £200 and became annoyed when headquarters staff and store managers enjoyed a party of live music, food and drink at NEC in Birmingham last week.
High street fashion retailer Next has underpaid thousands of employees struggling with the cost of living after a failed payroll change. file image
In a message to the retailer’s messaging system, they wrote: ‘This is now the second week that my wages are wrong and I’ve only been working here for a month.
“I’ve been without my pay for two weeks now and at a time like this when the price of everything is only going up, the last thing I need is not to get my money.”
“Most of us haven’t been paid well since the change in the system,” an insider said The Sunday Times.
She said her partner works overtime to cover their living expenses.
Shop floor staff are paid around £9.50 per hour, while managers were paid around £16.80.
The salary issues have also resulted in some employees being overpaid and subsequently missing out on Universal Credit payments.
Last year, Next reported a pre-tax profit of £823 million – the highest since the company was founded in 1982.
Next’s sales director, Shonnagh Taylor, recently told staff that the company received up to 113 calls a day from employees about pay issues, the paper reported.
Some workers have turned to food banks and can’t fill their cars with fuel – they book vacation because they can’t get to work. file image
Obviously this has now dropped to about 50 a day.
A spokesperson for the retail chain told the newspaper that they were addressing the wage issues as a matter of urgency.
“This is one of the few cases where Next has outsourced critical software and we learned some important lessons about integrating our internal applications with third-party platforms,” they said.
“We are well aware of the problems these wage errors have caused some of our colleagues. We offer our sincere apologies to all involved.’
They added that the workforce will not be affected by pension contribution issues.
Next and Oracle have been contacted for further comment.