Unpaid Wages UK 2026: Step-by-Step Claim Process

If your employer hasn't paid you correctly - missing wages, unpaid overtime, withheld bonus, illegal deductions - UK law gives you several routes to recover what you're owed. This guide walks through the process from internal grievance to Employment Tribunal in 2026.

To check whether the tax, NI and PAYE lines look right on your own slip, see How do I check my payslip is correct?.

Quick reference: which route to use

Step 1 - Document everything in writing

Before any formal action, build your evidence:

• Get your employment contract (or written statement of particulars from your first day).
• Print every payslip for the disputed period.
• Save your timesheets, rota, swipe card records, or other evidence of hours worked.
• Email your line manager and payroll with the specific shortfall: "On my [date] payslip I see [amount] for [reason]. The contract / agreed rate / hours worked indicate this should be [amount]. Please confirm by [date]."
• Get a written response. Verbal-only conversations don't survive in tribunal.

Step 2 - Raise a formal grievance

If informal contact is ignored after 14 days, raise a formal grievance under your employer's published grievance procedure. Most procedures require:

1. Written submission to HR or your line manager (or their manager if your line manager is the issue).
2. Description of the issue + the resolution you want (e.g. "Pay arrears of £X within 14 days").
3. The employer is required to invite you to a grievance hearing within reasonable time (typically 5-14 days).
4. You can be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative.
5. Written outcome from the employer.
6. Right of appeal if you're dissatisfied.

If the grievance is upheld, the employer pays. If refused or partially refused, you escalate.

Step 3 - Contact Acas Early Conciliation

Before any Employment Tribunal claim, you must notify the Acas Early Conciliation service. This is a free, confidential service designed to settle disputes without a tribunal hearing.

How to start:

• Online via acas.org.uk/early-conciliation, OR
• Phone Acas on 0300 123 1100.

You complete a short form with the employer's details and the issue. Acas contacts the employer within 5 working days and attempts to broker a resolution.

The conciliation period is up to 12 weeks. Acas puts it plainly: "By law, early conciliation can only last for a limited time. This is called the early conciliation period. Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks" (Acas). There is no separate 6-week period and no 14-day extension to ask for; the single 12-week window replaced that older structure. During this period, the time limit for tribunal claims is paused.

Acas success rate: about 75% of cases that enter Early Conciliation resolve before tribunal. Either you reach a settlement, or you receive an Acas Early Conciliation Certificate which you need to file at the tribunal.

Step 4 - Tribunal time limit

The time limit is changing. For most claims where the time limit starts on or after 1 October 2026, you have 6 months less 1 day from the date the wages should have been paid. Where it started before that date, the old 3 months less 1 day still applies (Acas, employment tribunal time limits; Employment Rights Act 2025 timeline).

So wages that should have been paid on 15 September 2026 carry the old three-month deadline of 14 December 2026, while wages due on 15 October 2026 run to 14 April 2027. If your pay date sits either side of 1 October 2026, work to the earlier deadline unless you have taken advice.

For ongoing underpayments, such as a wrongly low NMW rate paid for years, the clock runs from the most recent underpaid period.

The Acas conciliation period extends this clock - but only up to a point. If Acas conciliation fails, you typically have at least 1 month from the date of the certificate to file with the tribunal.

Step 5 - File at the Employment Tribunal

If Acas conciliation fails, file your claim using ET1 at gov.uk/employment-tribunals/make-a-claim.

No fees apply to individual employee claims, following the 2017 Supreme Court ruling in R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor.

The tribunal process:

1. You file ET1 with the Acas certificate number.
2. Employer responds with ET3 within 28 days.
3. Case management hearing (sometimes telephone-based) sets directions for evidence and a hearing date.
4. Disclosure of documents (you exchange evidence with the employer).
5. Witness statements prepared and exchanged.
6. Final hearing typically 6-9 months from filing. Most wage-arrears cases are 1-day hearings.
7. Tribunal decision issued in writing. If you win, the employer is ordered to pay.

You can represent yourself or use a solicitor. Free representation is available from:

• Citizens Advice
• Your trade union (if you belong to one)
• Law centres (if available in your area)
• Acas itself for procedural advice (but not advocacy)

Alternative: Small Claims Court

For unpaid wages under £10,000 (England and Wales) or £5,000 (Scotland), the County Court Small Claims procedure is an alternative. Pros: simpler than tribunal, no need for Acas conciliation. Cons: court fees (£35-£455 depending on amount), employer can recover their costs if you lose.

Most wage claims go to tribunal because tribunal is free and Acas conciliation often resolves the matter without escalation.

Special case: Insolvent employer

If your employer has gone into administration, liquidation, or is otherwise insolvent, claim through the Redundancy Payments Service (part of the Insolvency Service):

• What's covered: 8 weeks of unpaid wages, unpaid holiday pay (up to 6 weeks), statutory notice pay and statutory redundancy pay. Each is capped using the statutory limit on a week's pay, which is £751 where the relevant date falls on or after 6 April 2026 (Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026).
• How to claim: online via gov.uk/claim-redundancy once the insolvency practitioner has confirmed your eligibility (the practitioner contacts you).
• Timeline: 6-12 weeks from filing.

Special case: National Minimum Wage / National Living Wage underpayment

If the issue is unpaid NMW (e.g. unpaid travel time between client visits for care workers, unpaid sleep-in hours, unpaid trial shifts), you have a separate enforcement route:

• HMRC NMW enforcement team: 0300 123 1100 or via gov.uk/pay-and-work-rights-helpline.
• HMRC investigates the employer at no cost to you.
• HMRC can recover up to 6 years of arrears + impose penalties on the employer (up to 200% of the underpayment).
• The employer is publicly named and shamed if found to be underpaying.
• You don't need to leave your job to use this route - though many workers do once the case is filed.

This route is preferable to tribunal for systematic NMW issues because HMRC has stronger investigative powers.

Special case: Unpaid pension contributions

If your employer is deducting pension contributions from your pay but not passing them to the pension scheme, this is a statutory offence. Report to:

• The Pensions Regulator at thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/whistleblowing.
• Your pension provider can also investigate.

Recovery is usually quick (weeks, not months) because of the statutory framework around auto-enrolment.

What you can claim

In a successful wage-arrears tribunal:

• The wages owed (gross or net depending on how the claim is framed).
• Interest on an unpaid award, if the employer does not pay up. It runs at the Judgments Act rate, 8% a year, from 42 days after the tribunal's decision is sent out (Employment Tribunals (Interest) Order 1990).
• Possibly a "compensation award" for loss caused by the employer's breach.
• Tribunal costs if the employer behaved unreasonably (rare; tribunals are usually no-costs).

Where to get help

• Acas helpline: 0300 123 1100 - free, impartial, confidential.
• Citizens Advice: free, offers wage-claim support.
• Trade union (if you belong to one): represents members in tribunal.
• Law centres: free legal advice in many regions.
• No-win-no-fee employment solicitor: takes around 20-35% of the recovered amount, but only if you win.

Disclaimer

PayslipIQ provides automated educational guidance based on the figures you supply. It is not regulated employment-law advice. Wage-arrears claims have strict time limits and procedural requirements; for substantial claims or disputed factual situations, contact Acas on 0300 123 1100 or use a regulated employment solicitor.