Don’t wait – check your payslip every month

Don’t wait – make sure to check that the earnings reported on your payslip are correct 

Getting paid for the work that has been done is one of the employer’s most important obligations towards the employee. Many of the disputes handled by PAM are about wage claims, in one way or another. The situation may be that, for example, overtime hours or other parts of the salary are not reported on the payslip. In more serious cases, the salary has not been paid at all on payday.

Many of the disputes handled by PAM are about wage claims, in one way or another.

If the employee feels that (s)he has not gotten the wages that should have been paid, (s)he should first ask the employer to correct the wage payment. If the employer fails to pay the outstanding amount, despite being reminded of it, the employee can contact the union representative at his or her workplace or, if there is no such person, PAM’s employment counselling.

At PAM, the matter is first investigated by a PAM official familiar with employment matters. If the matter cannot be resolved easily, the member has the right to receive legal aid from the union when certain conditions are met. As a last resort, unpaid wages can be collected through legal proceedings.

In pay disputes, time is unfortunately never on the employee’s side. It is the employee’s responsibility to show which parts of the salary are missing.

Any unclarities related to the payment of wages should be addressed immediately, because in pay disputes, time is unfortunately never on the employee’s side. The more time passes, the more difficult it can be to sort out and collect the wage claim.

It is the employee’s responsibility to show which parts of the salary are missing. It is much easier to resolve the matter if the employee has saved payslips and his or her own records of working time. Labour legislation determines the time period for collecting wage receivables. As a general rule, claims for basic wages expire in five years and other supplements in two years.

You should be especially careful if you suspect the employer of insolvency. One indication of the employer’s insolvency can be repeated delays in the payment of wages.

In practice, pay security is the only possibility to collect wages, even partially, when the employer is insolvent.

In cases of employer insolvency,  it is important for the employee to act quickly. The pay security system supported by the Finnish state aims at protecting employees’ wages and other employment-related claims when the employer is unable to pay them due to insolvency.

Pay security must be applied for within three months of the claim becoming due. Pay security is applied for from the ELY Centre, and the application can be filled out electronically at the ELY’s e-service. If the application has not been submitted within the deadline, the claim can no longer be collected through pay security. In practice, pay security is the only possibility to collect wages, even partially, when the employer is insolvent.

The writer Henry Vähtäri is a lawyer at PAM.