HP faces legal action from sales staff

HP is facing legal action from three former sales employees who claim that the company owes them tens of thousands of dollars.

Reports on Bloomberg said that the case at the US District Court in California has been filed because 50,000 sales staff were allegedly denied commissions and bonuses because of faulty software in the firm's Omega order management system.

HP recently admitted problems with Omega that had affected sales staff.

Ironically, the employees involved would have been selling the firm's computer equipment by urging customers to update their old technology systems.

A recent report in The Wall Street Journal, citing HP staff emails, said that Omega had been repeatedly malfunctioning since November.

HP could not immediately be reached for comment.

The news follows plummeting morale at HP's EDS unit after the announcement of a further round of pay cuts. HP announced cuts in February ranging from 2.5 per cent to 20 per cent, with top executives taking the biggest cuts, and an across-the-board cut of 10 per cent for one month in March.