Pay claim

According to the Employment Contracts Act, salary shall be paid on the last day of the pay period, unless otherwise agreed (chapter 2, section 13).

If the employee thinks that he/she has not received all the pay that he/she should have received, he/she has to request for rectification of pay from the employer. The pay claim form intended for use during the employment relationship can be used for that purpose.

According to the Employment Contracts Act, when an employment relationship ends, the pay period also ends (chapter 2, section 14). If the payment of a claim resulting from an employment relationship is delayed, the employee is entitled to interest for late payment in accordance with the Interest Act (section 4) plus full salary for the waiting days, but for a maximum of six calendar days.

If the employee thinks that he/she has not received all the pay that he/she should have received after the end of the employment relationship, he/she has to request for rectification of pay from the employer. The pay claim form intended for use after the end of the employment relationship can be used for that purpose.

Payment of salary at the end of employment - salary for waiting period​​​​​​​

If a claim resulting from an employment relationship is not clear and undisputed or if the delay of the payment has resulted from a calculation error or a comparable error, the employee is only entitled to salary for the waiting days, if he/she has reminded the employer about the delay of the payment within one month from the end of employment, and the employer has not paid the claim within three business days from the reminder. In that case the right to the salary for waiting days starts when the time for payment reserved for the employer has elapsed.

If an employer fails to pay a pay claim, the employee can demand his/her claims through an action filed in District Court. He/she has to file the action by himself/herself. At that point it is advisable to contact a law office or the local legal aid office.

If the employer is insolvent, the employee shall contact his/her local Employment and Economic Development Office to submit a pay security application. The application shall be submitted within three months from the due date of the claim. See more information at Pay security.

According to the Employment Contracts Act, an employee’s pay claims become statute-barred five years after the due date, unless the period of limitation has been interrupted before that time (chapter 13, section 9). The same period of limitation also applies to other claims referred to in the Employment Contracts Act. Basic pay will become statute-barred in five years. Overtime pay will become statute-barred at the end of the second calendar year following the performance of overtime work and holiday pay at the end of the second calendar year following the holiday.

The limitation period for a personal injury sustained by an employee is, however, ten years.

At the end of the employment relationship the right to pay claim will be lost, if the action is not filed within two years from the end of the employment relationship. However, if the provisions of the collective agreement used as the basis for the employee’s claim are considered obviously open to interpretation, the claim will become statute-barred five years after the due date.