What do I do if my employer has not paid me?
Wages not paid, paid short, or deducted without authority are all the same legal problem. The three lawful bases for a deduction, the Acas step you cannot skip, and the deadline that decides everything.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Time
- 14 min
- Read
- 5 min
- Safety
- caution
Short answer
A deduction from wages is only lawful if a statute requires it, the contract clearly authorises it, or you agreed to it in writing beforehand. Agreement given after the deduction does not count. Write to your employer setting out the shortfall, then notify Acas — which is compulsory before a tribunal claim and pauses the clock. The limit is currently three months less one day from the last deduction.
The legal category most people need is 'unlawful deduction from wages', which covers not being paid at all as well as being paid short. It is deliberately broad: wages include holiday pay, statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, commission, bonuses that have been earned, and allocated tips. What it does not cover is expenses, loans and redundancy payments, which have their own routes.
Safety
Step by step
- Work out exactly what is owed and for which period.Payslips, bank statements, your contract, the rota or timesheets. A claim with a schedule attached — dates, hours, rate, amount, what was paid — is dealt with far more quickly than one that asserts a total.
- Check whether the deduction had a lawful basis.Only three exist: a statute requires it, such as tax and National Insurance; a clear term in your contract authorises it; or you gave written agreement before the deduction was made. Consent given after the event does not make it lawful.
- Write to your employer with a deadline.State the amount, the period, why you say it is owed, and give a date by which you expect payment. Keep it factual. This letter is the first document a tribunal or a court will read.
- Use the grievance procedure if the letter does not work.Following the Acas Code of Practice matters: an unreasonable failure to follow it by either side can change any award by up to a quarter. It also very often resolves the problem without anything further.
- Notify Acas — this is compulsory.Before an employment tribunal claim you must notify Acas for early conciliation. Taking part in the conciliation itself is voluntary; the notification is not. You get a certificate with a number, and you cannot issue a claim without it.
- Understand how the clock pauses.The time between notifying Acas and receiving the certificate does not count towards the limit, and you get at least a month from the certificate date. This only helps if you notified Acas inside the original limit, which is why negotiating first is dangerous.
- Know the current time limit and the change that is coming.Three months less one day from the last deduction, extendable only where it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will extend it to six months, expected from October 2026, applying only to acts on or after the commencement date. Do not rely on the longer period until it is in force.
- Note the backstop on a series of deductions.Where you claim for a run of underpayments, a tribunal can generally only go back two years from the date of the claim. That two-year limit does not apply to some statutory payments such as statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay.
- Consider the county court for a straightforward debt.A small money claim has a six-year limitation period and can be used where the tribunal limit has passed. It carries a fee and a costs risk that the tribunal does not, and you cannot pursue the same loss in both.
- Keep working, and keep records, unless advised otherwise.Walking out over unpaid wages is sometimes justified but it is a serious step with its own legal consequences. Take advice from Acas or Citizens Advice before resigning, and keep contemporaneous notes either way.
- Northern Ireland: use the parallel system.The equivalent provisions are in the Employment Rights (NI) Order 1996, the forum is the Industrial Tribunal, and conciliation is through the Labour Relations Agency rather than Acas. The clock-stop mechanics differ, and the two-year backstop does not apply.
Tips
- Notify Acas as soon as it looks unlikely to be resolved. The certificate does not commit you to anything and it protects the deadline.
- Download your payslips before you lose access to the payroll system. Former employees frequently cannot get back in.
- Keep a rolling schedule of what you were paid against what you should have been paid. It takes minutes a month and it is the whole case.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for the employer to come back to you — The limit runs from the deduction, not from the end of the conversation. Notify Acas early and negotiate in parallel.
- Claiming a total with no breakdown — A schedule of dates, hours and rates is what gets a claim settled. An unevidenced figure invites a dispute about arithmetic instead of about liability.
If it doesn't work
The payslip does not match what went into the bank
Cause: A deduction not shown, or a payroll error — Fix: Ask payroll for a written explanation of every line. Most are errors and are fixed. Keep the reply, because an unexplained difference is the core of any later claim.
You have been told to sign a deduction agreement now
Cause: An attempt to authorise a deduction retrospectively — Fix: Written agreement must come before the deduction. Do not sign under pressure, and say in writing that you are taking advice.
The three months is nearly up and you are still negotiating
Cause: Assuming a negotiation extends the deadline — Fix: Notify Acas immediately. It costs nothing, it pauses the clock, and you can continue negotiating. Missing the deadline usually ends the claim entirely.
Questions people ask
Can my employer deduct for a till shortage or damage?
Only with a lawful basis — usually a clear contractual term or your prior written agreement. In retail employment there are additional statutory limits on how much can be deducted in any pay period for cash shortages and stock deficiencies.
Can they deduct training costs when I leave?
Only if there is a clear written agreement made before the deduction, and even then the amount has to be a genuine estimate of loss rather than a penalty. Ask for the document you signed and take advice on it.
Is holiday pay wages?
Yes. Holiday pay, statutory sick pay, statutory family pay and earned commission all count as wages, so failing to pay them is an unlawful deduction claim.
Does it cost anything to bring a claim?
There is currently no fee to issue an employment tribunal claim in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. A county court money claim does carry a fee, which scales with the amount.
What if my employer has stopped trading?
That is a different route — the National Insurance Fund covers certain debts where the employer is formally insolvent. Where they have simply stopped trading without a formal insolvency, the position is narrower. See the guide on employer insolvency.