Tesco staff who were made redundant last month have been asked to return redundancy payments that were overpaid to them in what has been described as an “administrative error”. It is believed that approximately 200 and 300 former workers have been affected by the issue which saw some former staff members receiving redundancy payments totalling as much as £2,000 more than what they were owed. There was also an issue where some were underpaid.
The redundancy was part of a £1.5 bn cost saving plan which in total is expected to affect up to 9000 full-time employees which will include a reduction in fresh food counters in store.
As a result, and as a sign of goodwill from the supermarket it was confirmed that anyone who was overpaid by more than £500 will be able to keep £100, but those overpaid by less than £500 will be allowed to keep the full amount.
Chief executive Dave Lewis stated: “There was a mistake. Anybody that was underpaid was rectified within 24-36 hours and we’re now in consultation with those people who were overpaid.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “A small number of colleagues were impacted by an administrative error which resulted in an incorrect redundancy payment being made to them.
“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.”
Alex Kiernan, a lawyer at Loch Employment Law, said: “It seems likely that this is an honest error by Tesco, and they will seek to rectify the incorrect payments made without legal action becoming necessary.”
