On some occasions, problems may occur in the collection of salary. And it is possible that the company is going through some difficulties and cannot pay the payroll to the employees, although there are also situations in which bad business practices are carried out that make it difficult to collect all or part of the agreed salary.
These are situations that obviously worry the employee a lot because they have to deal with the monthly payroll to pay the rent for the apartment or mortgage, in addition to the receipts for basic services such as electricity or water and, of course, food. If you are in this situation, surely you are wondering: what do I do if my boss does not pay me? From aHOWTO, we are going to explain what you can do to solve this situation as soon as possible.
What to do if your boss doesn’t pay your salary
Whenever the worker has complied with the conditions of the employment contract and the company does not pay the salary, one of the claims that must be made are the amounts owed or pending payment .
This can be applied both to the entire salary or to a part of it and to the amounts to be received for working on holidays or extra days. In addition, there is no need to have a minimum amount to be able to start this claim route in which several steps must be followed, always from the sixth day of the month following the one that should have been collected and without stopping work:
- Speak directly with the company to try to solve this situation as soon as possible.
- Send a fax or burofax with a certificate of content to have proof that you have contacted the company to claim the amounts owed. You should do this if you have previously contacted the company and if the problem is still not solved after a reasonable time or the period they have given you.
- File the conciliation ballot, for which you must go to a labor lawyer because it is about reaching an agreement without having to go to court. This ballot explains the amounts owed and what they are claimed for. In addition, in the event that there is a long delay in payment, it is even possible to request a 10% delay on the amounts. The maximum term to make a claim in this way is one year and must be started in the event that the fax or burofax has not been of any use.
- Going to trial would already be the last alternative that one would have to obtain the payment of the payroll or several monthly installments, as appropriate, in the event that all of the above has failed and the amount owed is still not collected. In any case, depending on the amounts, it is not usually advantageous for the employee for less than three payrolls due to the costs involved.
You may also be interested in this other article from OneHOWTO about What I do if my boss doesn’t pay my severance pay .
My boss doesn’t pay me on time, can I get fired?
When the boss doesn’t pay the payroll, many workers think about leaving the company because they can’t stay that long without receiving the financial amount. But is this possible? The answer is yes: it is possible to request the termination of the contract .
However, this is a path that cannot be used by all workers. And it is that to opt for it it is essential that the amounts owed are large and that the non-payment is repeated. That is, it is not used for a single payroll due. This is especially important to be clear about because the decision of whether or not the contract can be terminated has to be made by a judge .
For this process, a labor lawyer is needed to carry out the entire process, which is similar to the one we have discussed in the previous section to claim the amounts. That is, first you have to use the conciliation ballot and, if there is no other choice, you must go to court.
If the judge decides that the employee is entitled to terminate the contract, it must be clear that they are entitled to unemployment benefit and compensation from the company, which would be similar to that of unfair dismissal . And it is that, although the end of the contract is requested, it is not considered a voluntary resignation. In addition, the amounts owed would obviously be received.
Throughout this process, it is key that you know that you will not be able to stop going to the job or performing your duties until there is a final judgment, even if you continue without receiving your salary. If you do not go and do not work, you will lose the right to unemployment and compensation. However, if you do not want to attend, you must ask the judge. There are cases in which the worker’s request has been accepted.
What can I do if my boss does not pay me what was agreed?
There are times when, despite the ruling being in favor of the worker and the company having to pay him, the employee does not receive the corresponding amount. In these cases, the only thing left is to request the execution of the sentence for which the company will have to pay.
But, if the company cannot do it, the most usual thing is that the judge pronounces business insolvency and that you have to go to FOGASA (Salary Guarantee Fund) to collect.
With these guidelines that we have given you in aHOWTO, we hope we have answered your question about what do I do if my boss doesn’t pay me? Always before any labor problem, consult a lawyer so as not to make the wrong decisions and that the rights that you have as a worker can really benefit you.
