Claiming Unpaid Wages, Notice Pay, and Holiday Pay

The employment tribunal can hear several types of pay claim. The most common is an unlawful deduction from wages under Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (s.13–27). This covers any situation where your employer has failed to pay you wages that are properly payable — whether salary, overtime, commission, bonuses, or other contractual payments.

Notice pay claims arise when your employer dismisses you without giving the correct notice period or payment in lieu of notice. Statutory notice is one week per year of service (up to a maximum of 12 weeks), but your contract may provide for longer notice. If your employer dismisses you without the required notice, you can claim notice pay at the tribunal as a breach of contract claim.

Holiday pay claims cover accrued but untaken statutory annual leave. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave per year. If your employment ends and you have untaken leave, you are entitled to payment in lieu. Redundancy pay claims are for the statutory redundancy payment when your employer fails to pay it — you must have 2 years' continuous service to qualify.

It is important to distinguish between statutory rights (set by law) and contractual rights (set by your employment contract). You are entitled to whichever is more favourable. For example, statutory minimum notice is one week per year of service, but your contract may provide for three months' notice — you would be entitled to the longer contractual period.

Similarly, statutory holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks (28 days for a full-time worker), but many contracts provide more. Statutory sick pay has set rates, but many employers offer contractual sick pay at full or half salary. Statutory redundancy pay follows a fixed formula, but some employers offer enhanced redundancy packages.

The employment tribunal can hear claims for unlawful deductions from wages (statutory) and breach of contract claims (contractual) for amounts up to £25,000. For breach of contract claims exceeding £25,000, you would need to bring proceedings in the County Court instead. You can only bring a breach of contract claim in the tribunal if your employment has ended — it cannot be brought during ongoing employment.

For unpaid wages, compare what you should have been paid (according to your contract and payslips) with what you actually received. Check your bank statements against your payslips — sometimes the payslip shows the correct amount but the actual payment is short. Include all elements of pay: basic salary, overtime, commission, shift allowances, and contractual bonuses.

For holiday pay, calculate your accrued but untaken leave. If you work regular hours, this is straightforward — divide your annual entitlement pro rata for the portion of the leave year you worked, then subtract any leave you took. For workers with irregular hours or no normal working hours, the calculation is based on average pay over the preceding 52 weeks in which you were paid (ignoring weeks with no pay).

For notice pay, calculate what you would have earned during your notice period (statutory or contractual, whichever is longer), including basic pay, regular overtime, and any other contractual benefits. Deduct any wages already paid during the notice period and any earnings from a new job during what would have been the notice period.

The time limit for an unlawful deduction from wages claim is 3 months minus 1 day from the date of the last deduction (or the last in a series of deductions). This is extended by the ACAS early conciliation period.

The "series of deductions" rule is particularly important. Under s.23(3) ERA 1996, where there has been a series of deductions, you can claim for the entire series provided the last deduction was within 3 months. This means if your employer has been underpaying you for two years, you can recover the full amount as long as the most recent underpayment was within the time limit. However, there must be a sufficient connection between the deductions for them to constitute a "series."

For notice pay and breach of contract claims, the time limit is 3 months minus 1 day from the effective date of termination of your employment. For redundancy pay, the time limit is 6 months from the relevant date (usually the date employment ended). If you miss the time limit, the tribunal has limited discretion to extend it — for wages claims, only if it was "not reasonably practicable" to file in time.

Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (sections 13–27) provides the statutory framework for protecting workers against unauthorised deductions from wages. Section 13 provides that an employer shall not make a deduction from a worker's wages unless the deduction is required or authorised by statute (such as income tax or National Insurance), or is authorised by a term of the worker's contract, or the worker has previously agreed in writing to the deduction.

The definition of "wages" is broad and includes any sums payable to the worker in connection with their employment, including salary, fees, bonuses, commission, holiday pay, statutory sick pay, and statutory maternity pay. It does not include loans, advances of wages, expenses, pension contributions, or redundancy payments (which have their own separate regime).

A "deduction" includes not only a reduction in the amount paid but also a complete failure to pay wages that are properly payable. If your employer pays you nothing at all, that is a deduction of the full amount. If they pay less than the contractual amount, the shortfall is a deduction. The tribunal can order the employer to pay you the net amount of the deduction (i.e. after tax and National Insurance).

To file your claim, complete the ET1 form online at www.gov.uk/employment-tribunals. In the claim type section, select "unlawful deduction from wages" for unpaid wages and holiday pay. For notice pay, select "breach of contract." You can include multiple claim types on the same ET1.

In the details section, set out clearly: what payments are owed, the period they cover, how you have calculated the amount, and what steps you have taken to recover the money from your employer. Attach or reference supporting documents such as your contract, payslips, and written requests for payment.

Unpaid wages claims are usually straightforward and may be determined at a short hearing or even on the papers without an oral hearing. Many employers settle once they receive the ET1 and realise they must either pay or attend a tribunal hearing. The tribunal can also make a costs order against an employer who has no reasonable prospect of defending the claim.

The key evidence for a pay claim includes your employment contract (showing your contractual pay, notice period, and holiday entitlement), payslips for the relevant period, bank statements showing what was actually paid, any correspondence with your employer about the unpaid amounts, and a clear schedule of loss calculating what is owed.

For holiday pay claims, you will also need records of holiday taken and accrued. If your employer did not keep proper records, the burden shifts to them to prove that you were paid correctly. Keep copies of any holiday request forms, approval emails, or internal systems showing your leave balance.

For redundancy pay claims, you need evidence of your start date, your date of birth, your weekly pay (for the statutory calculation), and confirmation that you were made redundant rather than dismissed for another reason. If you were dismissed but believe the real reason was redundancy, gather evidence of the redundancy situation (such as restructuring announcements, colleagues being made redundant, or your role being eliminated).