ASDA employees receive wrong payments following payroll error

Thousands of people who work for the retail giant ASDA received less sick and holiday pay than they were due, thanks to a glitch within the company’s payroll system.

A total of 53,000 people were affected by this, including both existing employees and ones who have since left the company. The relevant time period is between February 2024 and May 2025. In February 2024 ASDA began using a system called Project Future for administrating its payroll and the error was within that system. Reports indicate that the affected employees have been told and will be compensated by the firm.

While the issue is being resolved by ASDA, it has led to a discussion about the importance of effective payroll management. Karen Lough is a director for the Ciphr payroll software firm. She said that payment processes should be standardised and that integrating them with HR systems would cut the risk of data errors.

Even top-quality payroll software should be combined with oversight from HR professionals. However, the smaller teams working for SMEs are often distracted by other matters or lack the necessary financial expertise. Outsourcing payroll management to HR services in Northampton can provide companies with both cutting-edge software and human expertise.

John Pearce from Cloudbay told HR Magazine that:

“While modern payroll systems can automate and speed up processes, human oversight remains critical. Experienced payroll professionals are often the first to spot nuances or anomalies that automated tools may overlook.”

He also said that the checking of payroll systems is something that should be done in real time.