How do I get paid wages owed?

If your employer is in liquidation/bankruptcy, you may be able to make a claim to the National Insurance Fund for outstanding wages and holiday pay, payment in lieu of notice, and redundancy.

If your employer is not in liquidation/bankruptcy, you may be able to make a claim for redundancy on the grounds that your employer is in financial difficulty, but nothing else.

For further details, you should contact the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) on 08451 450004, or you could email them at BRPO@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Can I claim redundancy?

You are normally entitled to redundancy if you have been employed for 2 years continuously by the employer and are aged 20 to 64.

For further details, you should contact the RPS on 08451 450004, or you could email them at BRPO@dti.gsi.gov.uk

WAGES

Where an employer has been formally declared insolvent, any employees owed wages can make a claim under the Employment Protection Regulations (EPR) for payment of outstanding wages from the National Insurance Fund.

An employer is formally insolvent if it is subject to bankruptcy, liquidation, administrative receivership, administration, or company/individual voluntary arrangement.

The amount that can be claimed is limited, but generally, the following can be claimed:

• 8 weeks' wages up to a weekly limit (currently £330 per week) - this includes commission and overtime
• Payment in lieu of notice up to a weekly limit (currently £330 per week) - an employee should claim Jobseekers Allowance immediately upon dismissal, as their claim for payment in lieu of notice will be reduced by the amount of Job Seekers Allowance (whether they claim the Allowance or not).
• 6 weeks' holiday pay up to a weekly limit (currently £330 per week) for unused holidays or for holidays taken but not paid, accrued in the previous 12 months
• Redundancy
• Other payments including statutory payments for time off work, e.g. sick pay, maternity leave; a basic award for compensation for unfair dismissal; reasonable reimbursement of apprentices’ or articled clerks’ fees and any ‘protective award’ made by an industrial tribunal.

The person in charge of the insolvency, i.e. the trustee, the liquidator, the administrative receiver or the administrator, has a duty to complete forms which notify the RPS that the employer is insolvent and provides some basic details about its employees. The RPS then sends out forms to the employees and thereafter deals with processing the claims and organising payment.

The RPS then becomes a creditor in the insolvency for the money paid out under the EPR. Employees can also claim in the insolvency for any further monies owed to them not met under the EPR.

If the employer is not formally insolvent, the employee may still be able to make a claim to RPS for any redundancy owing, but not for wages, payment in lieu of notice, etc. The employee would have to pursue the employer for the money as any other creditor would, e.g. a County Court Judgment.