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John   01 September 2015

Unpaid salary

I am working for a company here in India who owes me salary and has not paid me.

I am a New Zealander working here in India under a Business visa.

What recourse have I got to force my Indian emploer to pay me the salary we have agreed to under the contract we both agreed to?



Learning

 3 Replies

Kumar Doab (FIN)     01 September 2015

All labor laws regulating employment relationships in India also apply to foreign nationals working in India.

You can seek recourse depending upon the coverage that you nwill get e.g.; as 'Workman' as in ID Act, 'Employee' as in (Name of the state) Shops and Establishments Act, and if you are not covered by these definitions you may have to approach the appropriate forum e.g. civil court.

 

It shall be appropriate to show all employment related documents and pending dues to an able Labor Law Consultant/Service Matters lawyer/Law firm and your counsel may opine that you can approach:

 

Inspector appointed under (Name of the state) Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, : If your establsihment is covered by the Act and you are covered by the def. of ‘Employee’ as in the Act. This Act does not discriminate between ‘Workman’ and ‘Non Workman’……………

 

O/O Labor Commissioner; if you are covered as “workman’…………………and if your counsel opines that you are covered.

 

Higher/Highest Officials of Dept. of labor of your state...............

 

Employee's/Trade Unions e.g. CITU/INTUC/AITUC/BMS etc and if the unions  embrace you.

 

 Your counsels may opine that you can lodge complaint u/s 406,420 and file ‘winding up’ petition as unpaid wages are debt on employer, civil suit for recovery etc.

 

KS Johal   01 September 2015

John my understanding is that you are on a business visa. This basically means that you are in India to do business. However you are indicating that you are working for an employer. Here there seems to be a contradiction. If the employer is aware of this then that could be a possibility of not paying your salary. If you have a contract in place and you have signed it. Provided it says that you will be paid x amount of salary per month or per annum then you are entitled to it. Was the contract verbal or in writing? If you were to take an action on the employer via the courts then they will have no option but to pay it provided the above scenario has been observed. You must also remember that work means that you must work to earn that money. If you have not produced the work that the employer requires you to do so then the employer will not pay the salary and hence this situation arises. Sometimes the employee does not emphasize that they do not have enough experience in a particular field of work. The employer takes the employee on and agrees to pay a sslary. Then the employer realises that this person does not have any experience and knowledge of that work. Provided the person is not on voluntary work or in a situation whereby the employee agrees to work for 2 weeks to learn the trade and then get paid afterwards that period. You need to look at the terms and conditions of the contract before you take any action on the employer. If you are not sure please consult an employment lawyer for expert advice. I hope this helps.

KS Johal   01 September 2015

*sslary is *salary

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