CareerPulse › Wage Rights › UK Unlawful Deductions

Employer deducted your pay? The clock is 3 months less ONE day

The answer: under Employment Rights Act 1996 s.13 (unlawful deduction from wages), an unauthorised deduction from wages must reach the employment tribunal within 3 months less 1 day of the deduction (the LAST deduction if it's a series) — ERA 1996 s.23(2)-(3) — claim to the employment tribunal within 3 months less one day of the deduction (the LAST deduction if a series). Miss it, and the claim is very hard to revive.

The step before the tribunal

ACAS Early Conciliation NOTIFICATION is a mandatory pre-tribunal step (Employment Tribunals Act 1996 s.18A); participating in settlement talks is voluntary. Notify ACAS first — it also pauses the tribunal clock during conciliation.

A change is coming

Employment Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 2025-12-18) extends this to 6 MONTHS, expected in force ~October 2026 — commencement date unconfirmed; the engine applies 3 months until then and says so

No statutory overtime premium in the UK

The UK has NO statutory overtime premium — extra pay for overtime is contract-only; the only floor is that average pay for ALL hours worked must meet the minimum wage (verified: acas)

Escalation

Route: ACAS early conciliation → employment tribunal (no fee); HMRC also enforces NMW underpayment (complaints via gov.uk) with penalties on the employer

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Generated 2026-07-07 by CareerPulse (The Aslan Group LLC) from the same source-cited legal reference data our paid engine uses. Informational, not legal advice — rules change; verify with the cited instruments. Contact: info@theaslangroupllc.com