Unpaid Wages - How to Recover What Has Already Been Earned
Salary is the one labour claim that needs neither proof of a ground nor proof of the employer's fault: the work was done, the pay is owed. Even so, wage disputes are the most numerous of all: "next month", "when the client pays", "a bonus is not salary", "we deducted a fine", "you had no contract".
This page describes the legal mechanics of recovering unpaid wages: what counts as salary, what interest accrues automatically, which deductions are lawful and which are not, how cash-in-hand pay is proved, what the Labour Inspectorate does and how the case is won in court, from the employee's side, and how a lawyer protects an employer from an unfounded claim.
Updated · Practice area: Employment lawyer
What Is Part of Salary and What Is Not - The Decisive Question in Every Wage Dispute
The employer's main argument is often that the disputed sum "is not salary". The Code and case law see it differently.
The Route to Recovering Wages - From Calculation to Enforcement
Precise calculation of the arrears
Month by month: base salary, bonus, overtime, leave compensation, refund of unlawful deductions, and interest for every day of delay. A dated table is the basis of the claim and often shows the employer by itself that disputing costs more than paying.
Proving the amount of salary
Contract, appointment order, bank credits, income tax returns, a Revenue Service certificate. If part of the pay was cash in hand: the regular difference in bank credits, messages about the amount, witnesses, the job advert stating the salary.
Written demand to the employer
With the calculated sum, interest and a 7-day deadline. Many employers pay at this stage because a lawyer's letter shows the prospect of the inspectorate and court. The demand also interrupts limitation.
Labour Inspectorate
The Labour Inspection Service checks late payment and unlawful deductions, issues instructions to the employer and imposes fines. It does not recover the money itself, but its findings are ready-made evidence for court and real pressure on the employer.
Lawsuit and interim security
A labour claim without a court fee; the claim covers salary, interest and costs. If the employer is in financial trouble, attachment of accounts as interim security before the money goes to other creditors.
Enforcement
The judgment goes to the enforcement bureau; a wage claim has priority over other creditors. In liquidation or insolvency, wages are in a privileged class.
What a Wage Dispute Turns On
- 0.07% per day
- Interest for every day of delayed salary, under the Code, without any agreement. More than 25% a year: a sum that is a separate line in the claim.
- 7 days
- The deadline for the final settlement after the employment ends: salary, compensation, leave equivalent. Interest runs from the eighth day.
- At least monthly
- The minimum frequency of salary payment; more often is allowed by contract, less often is not. A "quarterly" payment term contradicts the Code.
- Limitation
- A wage claim has a three-year limitation period from the due date of each payment. Older months gradually "burn": the earlier you claim, the more you recover.
- Court fee 0
- A wage claim, like every labour dispute, is exempt from the state fee. Jurisdiction lies with the court of the employee's residence or workplace.
Cash-in-Hand Pay and No Contract - Why This Is Not the Employer's Protection
The most common fear: "I had no contract, I was paid in cash, I cannot prove anything". Legally it is the reverse. Putting the employment relationship in writing is the employer's obligation, and its failure counts against the employer: the employee need only prove the fact of the relationship, while the burden of proving its terms, including the amount of salary, shifts to the employer.
The fact of the relationship is proved by many things: an access card, work email and chats, correspondence with clients in the company's name, colleagues' testimony, the company's social media posts with the employee's photo, a uniform, a work schedule. The amount of salary: bank credit history (if at least part came through the bank), the job advert text, messages about pay, what others in the same position are paid.
For the employer this is a double risk: a claim for unpaid wages also brings tax consequences. That is why a lawyer's demand letter often leads to a quick settlement, and the lawyer documents the settlement so that the sum covers the entire period of work without a contract.
What to Collect for a Wage Dispute
- The contract, salary annexes, the appointment order, the bonus policy or internal rules.
- A bank statement with every credit since the start of work: regularity and amount are evidence of the salary.
- Payslips, settlement sheets, a Revenue Service certificate for the last 12 months.
- Deduction or fine orders and their stated basis, for recovering unlawful deductions.
- Correspondence about promised pay, reasons for delay, bonus conditions, with management, HR and accounting.
- Time records and schedules, if overtime or rest days are also disputed.
Three Wage Disputes
Bonus after hitting the sales plan
A sales manager achieved 112% of the quarterly plan; the bonus was withheld "because of the budget". Lawyer: the bonus policy is an annex to the contract, the condition was met, the CRM report is the evidence. After the demand letter the bonus was paid with interest.
Half the salary in cash
The contract said 800 lari, the real pay was 2,000; three months unpaid, the employer admits only 800. Lawyer: the job advert "from 2,000", messages with HR about the sum, colleagues' testimony, bank credits in earlier months of exactly that amount. The court calculated at 2,000 lari.
Employer: the right way instead of deducting "losses"
An employee damaged the company car; the employer wanted to deduct from salary. Lawyer: a unilateral deduction is unlawful and generates its own claim; instead, a written agreement on voluntary instalments, and if refused, a separate damages claim. The company recovered the sum by agreement, with no inspectorate fine.
Questions About Unpaid Wages
I still work there and my pay is late. Does a lawsuit mean losing the job?
Dismissal for asserting a labour right is prohibited and is an independent ground for voiding the dismissal. In practice, for current employees the lawyer first advises a written demand and the inspectorate, and a lawsuit when the relationship ends or the delays are systematic. Interest accrues in the meantime.
The company says it has no money. What is the point of suing?
A wage judgment is enforced against the company's accounts, receivables and assets, and wages rank ahead of other creditors. In liquidation the wage claim is privileged. The lawyer often seeks interim security before the accounts are emptied. A founder is personally liable only in cases of abuse.
I have been underpaid for the last 2 years. Can I claim the whole period?
Yes, within the three-year limitation period each month is a separate claim with its own interest. Continuing to work does not mean consent. A month-by-month calculation with interest often increases the principal by 20-30%.
I was dismissed and they are withholding my last salary "until documents are handed over".
The final settlement within 7 days is an unconditional obligation; the return of property or documents is a separate matter that does not justify withholding pay. Written demand, inspectorate, lawsuit, in that order, with interest from the eighth day.
I work remotely for a foreign company and my salary was not transferred.
If the work is performed from Georgia, Georgian court jurisdiction and the Code's protection often apply despite a foreign-law clause in the contract. Enforcement abroad is a separate procedure; the lawyer first checks the jurisdiction clause and the employer's assets.
Lawyers for Wage Disputes
A wage case is won by calculation and evidence, not emotion: every month, every day of interest. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who recovers wages regularly.
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Call: 568 330 318Other Labour Law Services
Salary Not Paid? Interest Is Already Accruing
In a free consultation the lawyer calculates the arrears with interest, tells you what evidence you have and which step (letter, inspectorate, lawsuit) gets you the money fastest - expect the coordinator's call in 15 minutes.