Pay issues can have a significant impact on you and your family, so it is essential that you understand your rights.
If you are an employee or a worker (i.e. not self-employed), you have a number of statutory rights in relation to pay, including the right to holiday pay and national minimum wage.
You will also have contractual rights in relation to pay. Any contract you have with your employer (whether written or verbal) should make it clear what salary (or commission or bonuses) you are entitled to receive and when you will receive them, plus any arrangements about paid over-time, sick pay, maternity pay etc.
If your employer decides to cut your pay or change your pay date without consulting you, or you think you have been underpaid in some way, you may have a claim for unlawful deductions from wages, or breach of contract, or a right to claim constructive dismissal.
Your contract may also provide for other benefits e.g. a company car or a car allowance; life assurance; paid overtime; private medical insurance; and a pension. As part of your contract, if your employer changes these terms without your consent, you may also have a claim. Request a call back during office hours.
If you think that you have a legal claim against your employer, it is important to get advice and act quickly, as most Employment Tribunal claims can only be brought within 3 months (less one day) of the underpayment or date a payment was supposed to be made but wasn’t.
You will be allocated to the most appropriate lawyer for your matter, who will be able to advise you as to whether you have any claims and what next steps you should take.
We will ensure that you are provided with clear information on costs. You may have the benefit of alternative funding through your legal expenses insurance provider or trade union. If you don’t, we’ll provide you with clear and upfront cost estimates to ensure that you remain in control of your costs at every stage.
Ideally, your matter will be resolved internally without the need to litigate and you will receive what you are owed.
If this is not possible, we can assist you with making a claim to the Employment Tribunal (or sometimes the High Court).
Our team of experienced employment lawyers can advise you on your statutory and contractual rights in relation to both pay and benefits.
We will assess and advise on your statutory and contractual rights and entitlements and your options if there has been any breach by your employer.
We can help you to resolve issues with your employer e.g. by raising a grievance, or we can assist you with making a claim to the Employment Tribunal. We will also clarify the circumstances in which your employer can lawfully make changes to your pay and benefits and make deductions from your wages, which often causes confusion.
We successfully engaged with our client’s employer on his behalf to recover his final salary payment, notice pay and accrued holiday pay which was being unlawfully withheld because of alleged but unproven anomalies in his expenses.
We advised a senior employee who was due a bonus but his employer attempted to hold back and implement new conditions for payment. We successfully disputed this as a breach of contract and he was paid his full bonus on time.