Pay & Bonus Disputes

From time to time, a dispute may arise between you and your employer with regard to pay and/or bonus. It may be the case that you believe that you have not received the National Minimum Wage / National Living Wage, that you suffered an unlawful deduction from wages or are receiving unequal pay. If you do believe that you have a legal issue, our expert employment law department in Essex and London can assist you further and advise on next steps.

The principle of equal pay is that both women and men should receive equal pay for equal work, and as such is considered a gender issue. There are three categories of equal work “like work”, “work-related as equivalent” and “work of equal value”.  We have experience in dealing with equal pay claims and we recommend an employee seeks advice at an early stage, including how to obtain information from your employer in order to ascertain whether such claim may exist.

Generally, claiming for equal pay rights allows you to claim up to a maximum of six years of lost earnings.

A bonus may be contractual or non-contractual and may be paid at the discretion of your employer.  Such discretion must not be exercised in an arbitrary, capricious or irrational way nor for it to damage the implied term of mutual trust and confidence.  Entitlements to bonus often become a central issue in severance negotiations.