Unpaid wages

Draft. Not counsel-reviewed. ChatLegal is not a solicitor. This is general information about pay and employment tribunals in England and Wales (EW), not legal advice, and not representation. Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. Do not use this page for work there.

Eval lockedIn the locked evaluation set. Not a counsel-reviewed page.

Plain-English scope

This page is about pay that was short or missing, and about the public time limit for asking an employment tribunal to look at that. It does not work out what anyone is owed, and it does not work out anyone's last day to claim.

Deductions and the tribunal

GOV.UK says an employer must not take deductions from pay unless the law or the contract allows it, or the worker agreed in writing. If someone is not paid in full, GOV.UK says they can go to an employment tribunal. The gold note ties that to the Employment Rights Act 1996, Part II.

A written contract and PAYE payslips are clues that someone may be an employee or a worker. If status is disputed (agency work, app work, or a "self-employed" label), get advice before relying on this page. The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 is named in the protocol. No section of it is cited. Use it only when a minimum-wage fact is actually in play. [verify]

Time limits — open counsel point

[verify] Acas 3 months or 6 months. This is not settled for this draft.

Acas's time-limits page says the law changed on 1 October 2026. For most claims about a problem before that date, it says 3 months minus 1 day. For a problem on or after that date, it says 6 months minus 1 day. For pay, it says the clock usually starts on the date someone was not paid correctly. Two pay dates on either side of 1 October 2026 may therefore have different deadlines. This page will not calculate either date.

The same gold note records that other Acas pages (Notify Acas, and How the process works) still say someone might only have 3 months minus 1 day. Those pages were not aligned on 3 November 2026. The statutory pinpoint in the Employment Rights Act 2025, and in the amended Employment Rights Act 1996 section 23, was not verified. How a series of deductions that straddles 1 October 2026 is treated was not stated.

Check the live Acas page, and check with Acas or an adviser, before treating any deadline as known. Do not wait to "see if they pay".

Acas first

Before a tribunal claim, GOV.UK says you usually must notify Acas. Acas then offers free early conciliation. GOV.UK says the time limit is put on hold while Acas helps. Acas says conciliation can last up to 12 weeks, that it can take around 9 weeks to start, and that it is the person's job to notify Acas within the time limit. When conciliation ends, Acas issues a certificate. GOV.UK says there will then be at least one month left to claim. The statutory rule behind that month was not pinpointed. [verify]

Acas says raising the problem at work, including a grievance, does not pause the tribunal time limit. GOV.UK says there is no tribunal fee.

Employment Rights Act 1996, Part II. Extent [verify]. The gold note names section 13 (unauthorised deductions) and section 23 (complaints to tribunals). Those section pages are not separately linked here.
Employment Rights Act 2025. Extent [verify]. Named as the source of the 1 October 2026 change. Pinpoint [verify].
National Minimum Wage Act 1998. No pinpoints. Cite only for a checked minimum-wage fact.
Early conciliation's statutory instrument: no URL in the curated-laws seed. [verify] before any link is added.

Official guidance

Accessed 3 November 2026.

What ChatLegal will and will not do

ChatLegal can point at those public pages. It will not fill in an ET1 or write Acas notification wording as if it acts for someone. It will not promise that a claim will succeed or that the money will be paid. It will not give an exact last day to claim. It does not tell anyone to let a deadline pass.

Notify Acas. Acas contact. Link list: Referrals.

Protocol and evaluation

Last reviewed

3 November 2026. Role: Product. Draft. Not a counsel-reviewed page. The 3-month / 6-month clock blocks any "reviewed" claim.

© Crown and database right. Derived from content available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.