Botched IT update overseen by Issa brother sees thousands of Asda staff paid incorrectly

Nearly 10,000 Asda employees received an incorrect payslip last week due to an IT glitch.

The glitch was believed to be as a result of co-owner, Mohsin Issa and TDR Capital attempting to detangle IT systems from the supermarkets former owners Walmart.

An internal memo addressed to senior staff, which was first seen by The Telegraph, said that the technical fault had impacted thousands of hourly paid workers.

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The national outlet as well as union bosses went on to explain how many employees had been underpaid with some individuals missing up to two weeks' pay.

In a letter to store managers on Thursday, Asda bosses said: “During our payroll checks, we have currently identified around 9,500 hourly paid colleagues who are impacted by incorrect pay.

“This is due to what we believe is an issue with a specific holiday calculation as we have moved to our new systems.

“Colleagues’ payslips may not show correctly so please reassure colleagues that we are aware of this and are making the relevant adjustments to ensure that colleagues receive payment by Friday payday.”

This meant that payslips visible on Thursday morning were incorrect for holiday pay yet by Friday, correct pay was in employee bank accounts.

A GMB Union member told the Telegraph: “GMB has been made aware of numerous and significant issues relating to our members’ pay being incorrect and underpaid as a result of the change in Asda’s pay and people systems this payday.

“Being underpaid can cause huge levels of stress and anxiety, particularly as the majority of Asda’s workers are low-paid.”

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These updates are a part of a multi-year digital transformation called Project Future where Asda will implement a new operating model to remove the legacy of Walmart infrastructure.

An Asda spokesperson said: “We recently launched a new HR system and conducted pre-emptive checks to identify any potential issues before colleagues were paid this month.

“These checks found a potential problem with holiday pay that could have resulted in a pay discrepancy for some hourly paid colleagues. 

“We have taken immediate and proactive steps to correct this – to help ensure there will be no shortfall in pay for these colleagues this month. Project Future will give Asda a world-class IT platform.”

The Blackburn-born billionaire brothers, Mohsin, 51, and Zuber, 50, have worked to grow their company EG Group since 2001, and most recently acquired Asda from Walmart in February 2021.

Yet the siblings have been at the centre of a series of controversies since which has sparked rumours of a family rift between the two.

In the past month, Mohsin announced that he would be stepping back from the day-to-day running of Asda.