Your employer hasn't paid your salary? Here's where you stand

The month has turned, the work was done, and the salary hasn't come — and when you ask, you get "next week" or silence. It's a stressful place to be, because bills don't wait for an employer to sort themselves out. The good news is that unpaid wages are one of the clearer things the law is on your side about.

What you're owed

Wages you've earned are yours, and an employer can't simply hold them back or keep moving the date. This holds 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, like a pending settlement.

The steps, in order

1. Ask in writing, with the numbers. An email or message stating the months owed, the amount, and a date you expect payment. It's often enough on its own, and it starts a record.
2. Gather your proof. Your appointment letter or offer, payslips, bank statements showing earlier salary credits, any messages about the delay.
3. A formal demand notice is the firmer next step if you're ignored — a proper letter setting out what's owed and a deadline. It tends to move employers who were stalling.
4. The labour authorities. Depending on your role and pay, the labour commissioner or the relevant tribunal can take up unpaid-wage claims — a real route, not a last resort.

When it's worth more than a message

If the polite emails haven't worked, a properly drafted demand notice is usually the turning point. Miss Lucy Lite explains where you stand for free, but she doesn't draft documents — Miss Lucy Pro can draw up that notice with the right wording and deadline. And if you're being pushed out or the amounts are large and disputed, that's the point to speak to a lawyer directly.

Tell Miss Lucy Lite what's happened and she'll help you see your options clearly.