What to Do When Your Employer Doesnt Pay You

What are my rights?

Can my employer deduct money from my wages to pay for an particular I broke?

You're entitled to get paid for the work you lot do. If yous think your pay is wrong or you haven't been paid what you're owed, there are steps you can have. Acquire your rights and how to work out the problem if your employer hasn't paid you.

What you should know

Whether employment standards law applies to you lot

A primal gene affecting your rights around getting paid is whether you're covered past theEmployment Standards Act. This is the main law protecting workers in BC. It applies to "employees" — which covers most but not all workers in the province.

If you're not sure whether employment standards law applies to you, see our information on who's covered.

What your employment contract says

A 2d gene that comes into play is your employment contract . It will typically set out how and when yous'll exist paid, and on what terms.

(Note there'salways an employment contract between a worker and an employer, even if nothing is in writing.)

Your contract rights may exist greater than the protections in employment standards police. But — if employment standards police force applies to yous — your contract rights to getting paidcannot be less than the minimum standards the constabulary sets. If they are, you're yet entitled to the minimum protections of the constabulary.

Your employer must pay you at least twice per month

"My employer was frequently late sending my pay cheque. Payday would come up and go and it would be weeks before I received anything. I raised the result with my boss. I explained how the late cheques were affecting my ability to brand hire and other expenses. She went to bat for me to get my wages directly deposited to my banking company account each payday."

– Lewis, Burnaby

If you're covered by theEmployment Standards Deed, your employer must pay yous at to the lowest degreesemi-monthly (twice per month). All you lot earn in a pay period (including overtime and statutory vacation pay) must be paid insideeight days of the stop of the pay flow.

(This doesn't include almanac holiday pay or overtime wages credited to your time banking company.)

Your employer must pay your wages in Canadian currency. Wages can exist paid:

in cash,
by cheque, bank typhoon or money order, or
by direct deposit to your banking concern business relationship.

Payment by straight deposit must be authorized by yous in writing or by a commonage agreement if you're part of a matrimony. If you're a farm worker, your employer must pay your wages directly to your bank account.

Don't delay in raising the upshot

If you don't recollect your employer has paid you all of what they owe y'all, let them know right away. The longer yous wait, the more difficult it may be to collect your wages.

Your employer may make certain deductions from your wages

Your employer can't deduct any amount from your wages except every bit permitted under the law.

Some examples of deductions that are permitted include:

income tax
employment insurance premiums
Canada Alimony Plan contributions
union dues
amounts required every bit a consequence of a garnishing order

In addition, y'all can request that a certain corporeality of each pay cheque go to a third party . This is called anconsignment of wages. For example, you may ask your employer to assign office of your wages to an insurance visitor for medical coverage or to an RRSP for retirement savings. Assignments of wages must be in writing.

Bank check your wage argument

If y'all want to meet what your employer is deducting from your wages, have a look at your wage statement . It'll tell you the amount and reason for each deduction.

Things your employer tin non deduct from your wages

Your employer cannon deduct coin from your wages to pay a concern expense. This includes expenses arising from:

theft
breakage
impairment to the employer's property
failure by a customer to pay (for example, "dine and dash")

If an employer makes an employee pay for a concern expense, the Employment Standards Co-operative can recover that coin as unpaid wages. The Branch can besides fine the employer.

If your employer overpays you, they can't deduct that overpayment from future wages — unless they have your written consent to do so. The same applies if your employer gives you an advance on your wages. They tin can't deduct that advance from your hereafter wages, unless they have your written consent.

You tin can challenge a deduction

If your employer has deducted money from your wages inappropriately, you tin can challenge them. Run into the steps nether "Work out the problem," beneath.

Your employer must give yous a wage argument each payday

If you're covered past theEmployment Standards Act, your employer must give yous a written wage statement on your payday. The wage statement covers a unmarried pay period, and must include:

your employer'southward name and address
the hours you lot worked
your regular wage rate
your overtime rate
the overtime hours you worked
whatsoever money, payment or assart you're entitled to (for example, statutory holiday pay)
the amount and reason for each deduction
how your wages were calculated (if you aren't paid hourly or by salary )
your gross and net wages
any amounts withdrawn from your time bank, and how much time remains

The document must be separate from your pay cheque, so yous tin can go on it if you want to. Your employer doesn't need to give you a wage statement if nix has changed since the last pay period.

Wage statements tin be provided electronically, so long as your employer provides:

confidential access to the electronic statement at your workplace, and
a means of making a paper re-create.

If yous leave your task

If you are fired or quit, your employer must pay all wages owed to you. This includes almanac holiday pay, statutory holiday pay, and overtime.

If you're covered by theEmployment Standards Deed, there are strict time limits. If you're fired, your employer must pay your outstanding wages within 48 hours of your last day of work. If you quit, they must pay these amounts inside six days of your last day of piece of work.

Piece of work out the trouble

Step 1. Discuss the situation with your employer

If you haven't been paid wages you're owed, first heighten the issue with your employer. Evidence them any documentation that supports your position (for example, an unpaid invoice).

Footstep ii. Write your employer a letter of the alphabet

If discussing the issue with your employer doesn't work, consider writing them a letter. Explain your concerns in detail. For instance, you could say something similar:

"Nether the BC Employment Standards Act, I'g entitled to be paid my wages within 8 days of the stop of each pay menstruation. It's been 2 weeks, and I haven't received my wages for the last pay flow. The delay is affecting my ability to make my rent payment for this month. [Modify to fit your state of affairs.] I'd like to explore solutions to this outcome with you every bit soon as possible."

We provide tips for writing a alphabetic character to your employer.

Keep a re-create of the letter for your files. Having a written record will be useful if you lot demand to accept additional steps.

Step 3. Make an employment standards complaint

If y'all aren't able to resolve things directly with your employer, yous can make a formal complaint. Workers covered past theEmployment Standards Act(see who'southward covered) can brand a complaint to the Employment Standards Branch. This government office administers the Human activity and helps workers and employers resolve problems. For what'due south involved, run across our guidance on making an employment standards complaint.

Common questions

My employer didn't pay me for a stat holiday. Is this legal?

Maybe. Some workers aren't eligible for statutory holiday pay. To be eligible:

yous must have been employed for 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday, and
you must have worked or earned wages on at to the lowest degree fifteen of the thirty days immediately earlier the statutory holiday.

These are the eligibility requirements nether theEmployment Standards Act. If you lot aren't covered by the Act (see if y'all're covered), your entitlement to paid stat holidays will generally be set out in your employment contract.

For more data, run into our guidance on working on a statutory vacation.

Am I entitled to paid sick go out?

Workers covered by BC'south employment standards law are entitled to 5 days of paid ill exit per twelvemonth if they can't work due to disease or injury. You must have been in the job for at least 90 days to qualify for this leave.

Note that this is the legal minimum. If your employment contract says you get more than in paid sick go out, y'all're entitled to that higher corporeality. And you lot can't contract yourself out of what you're entitled to under employment standards law. Run into our guidance on taking sick days for more.

My old employer said they couldn't locate me to ship my concluding pay cheque. Is there anything I tin do?

If an employer can't locate an employee to pay their wages, theEmployment Standards Human action requires the employer to pay the wages to the Employment Standards Branch. They must do this within 60 days of the wages becoming payable.

The Co-operative will hold this money "in trust" for 1 year. If the Branch can't locate the employee within that time, the wages are accounted to be "unclaimed property."

Thatdoesn't mean the wages are gone forever. The BC Unclaimed Belongings Society helps people reunite with their unclaimed coin. You can search their database to find out if at that place are unclaimed funds in your name.

Who can assist

Helpful agencies

Employment Standards Branch

The BC regime role that deals with complaints against employers.

Employment and Social Development Canada

They tin can help if yous piece of work in a federally-regulated industry.

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Source: https://www.peopleslawschool.ca/if-employer-hasnt-paid-you/