- An employee whose wages have not been paid may take the following steps:
- He may send a formal notice to the employer calling on him to pay the wage within a specified period (8 or 15 days).
- The formal notice will be sent by registered post.
- If on expiry of the period notified to the employer, the latter has still not paid the wage, the employee may lodge a complaint with the ITM, or:
- file an application for interim relief addressed to the President of the Labour Court to recover arrears of wages, or
- file an application to the Labour Court for a decision on the substance..
- The choice between an application for interim relief and proceedings on the substance will depend on the situation: the President of the Labour Court has jurisdiction only if the claim for recovery is not countered by “serious challenges” on the part of the employer. There will be serious challenges, for example, if there is no written employment contract, since the employer would be able to deny the existence of an employment relationship, or where the non-payment of wages reflects absence which the employer claims to be unjustified.
- Where serious challenges are raised by the employer, the employee is advised to proceed directly to an action on the substance of the case.
- An action for payment of remuneration of any kind due to an employee is time-barred after 3 years.
- Non-payment of wages by the employer for several months constitutes for the employee grounds for resignation with immediate effect.
In such cases, the resigning employee may ask the Labour Court to reclassify his resignation as unfair dismissal and obtain damages.