Temporary foreign worker Danilo DeLeon at a news conference Oct 1 where he accused Bee Clean of holding back wages. (CBC)

A cleaning company accused of failing to pay its workers overtime says it was all an administrative error.

Janitors working for Bee Clean Building Maintenance say they are owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime.

Many of the employees are temporary foreign workers, mostly from the Philippines. They work for the company on the University of Alberta campus.

Bee Clean regional director Robert Scott said they will get their money.

“We have apologized to each of the employees that are affected by it and want to assure them that we take this seriously and want to make sure that they know that and understand that they will be fairly compensated for any work they have done for us.”

He denied charges the workers were threatened with dismissal for complaining.

And he said Bee Clean has launched a defamation suit against the Service Employees International Union for making those claims.

The union held a news conference earlier this month on behalf of the non-unionized janitors. The union said it was suing Bee Clean for $42,435 in lost wages for five workers.

It also filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

At the time of the news conference Bee Clean refused to comment on the allegations.

Scott said an independent auditor has been hired to review company payroll practices to ensure the mistake doesn't happen again.