Salary not paid? The free Labour Commissioner route in India
The month has ended, the work was done, and the salary has not come. When you ask, you get "next week", or silence. It is stressful, because bills do not wait for an employer to sort themselves out. Unpaid wages are one of the clearer things the law is on your side about.
What you are owed
Wages you have earned are yours. An employer cannot hold them back or keep moving the date. This is true whether or not you had a formal written contract. The work you did is the proof. It covers your monthly pay, and usually your dues on leaving too, such as a pending settlement.
The steps, in order
- Ask in writing, with the numbers. Send an email or a message stating the months owed, the amount, and a date by which you expect payment. This is often enough on its own, and it starts a record.
- Collect your proof. Your appointment letter or offer, payslips, bank statements showing earlier salary credits, and any messages about the delay.
- Send a formal demand notice if you are ignored. This is a proper letter setting out what is owed and giving a deadline. It usually moves employers who were delaying.
- Go to the labour authorities. Depending on your role and pay, the Labour Commissioner or the relevant tribunal can take up unpaid wage claims. This is a real route, not a last resort.
When to send a demand notice
If polite emails have not worked, a properly written demand notice is usually what changes things. Miss Lucy Lite explains where you stand free of cost, and she can write that notice for you as a finished document, with the correct wording and deadline. If you are being pushed out, or the amounts are large and disputed, that is the point to speak to a lawyer directly.
Tell Miss Lucy Lite what has happened and she will explain your options.
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