Compensation for unpaid wages

5. september 2024
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If your salary has not been paid into your account, follow this guide so you know what to do.

If you have not received your salary, please telephone us on 72 30 12 05

Have you not been paid?

There may be a number of reasons for missed salary payments, including payroll reporting errors, bank errors or simply an oversight.

However, non-payment of salaries can also be a sign that your employer has a completely different and serious problem: they may be under financial pressure. If this is the reason why your salary has not been paid, it is important that you react quickly to maintain your right to receive salary payments from the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (Employees’ Guarantee Fund).

Free legal advice for recovering unpaid wages

If your employer is facing bankruptcy proceedings, then together with your wage claim, you will also be able to recover reasonable recovery costs from the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (Employees’ Guarantee Fund).

Costs for preparing a bankruptcy petition and court fees can be filed as claims in the bankruptcy estate. These costs have priority in the bankruptcy estate, so they will always be covered if insolvency proceedings are started against your employer.

We can offer to recover your claim at no cost to you. Initially, you will have to pay for the costs of collection, a sum of DKK 4,375 incl. VAT. These costs will then be charged to your employer in connection with the claim. If your employer cannot pay and ends up going bankrupt, the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (Employees’ Guarantee Fund) will cover the costs and you will get your money back from the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond. This way, pursuing your wage claim will ultimately be cost-free for you. If a bankruptcy petition is filed, you will have to make an outlay for a court fee of DKK 1,500, which will subsequently be covered by the bankruptcy estate.

Normally, as a bankruptcy petitioner, you must provide collateral of around DKK 30,000-40,000 for expenses related to the administration of the estate. As an employee, the treasury will guarantee the collateral, so you don’t have to.

This means that employees generally have good chances of recovering their costs associated with attempts to recover wages, as well as the costs associated with a bankruptcy petition.

Guide when salary is not paid

If you find that your salary has not been paid in on time, here is a guide to what should do.

  • Check national media to find out whether there are general problems with salary payments.
  • If there are no general issues, contact your employer to see if there is an error.
  • If this error is not corrected and wages paid immediately, contact your trade union or a lawyer and ask them to send a demand letter to your employer claiming payment of your salary.

If your salary is not paid despite the demand letter and any additional later claims, the trade union or lawyer will file for bankruptcy against your employer.

The above procedure can be deviated from if your employer makes objections to your wage claim.

You should follow the procedure described in more detail below to ensure that your salary claim can be covered by the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (Employees’ Guarantee Fund) if your employer is unable to pay your salary.

Check national media to find out whether there are general issues with non-payment of salaries

If your salary is not paid, we recommend that you start by checking the news media to see if there are any news stories about problems with salary payment. We also recommend that you visit the website of the company responsible for your salary payment, such as Dataløn, Danløn, etc.

You can check previous payslips to see which company is responsible for your salary payments.

Finally, we recommend that you check whether there are any general problems with transfers at your bank or at your employer’s bank.

If there are no general problems with payroll payments, contact your employer to see if there is an error.

If it is not a general problem, you should approach your employer and draw their attention to the issue. We recommend that after talking to your employer, you send them an email noting what you discussed and asking them to acknowledge receipt of the mail. The acknowledgement of receipt can be shown as evidence later if necessary.

If this error is not corrected and wages paid immediately, contact your trade union or a lawyer and ask them to send a letter of demand to your employer claiming payment of your wages.

If your employer does not correct the error immediately after you raise the issue, you should contact your trade union. If you are not a member of a trade union or your trade union cannot help you, we recommend that you contact a lawyer. We are happy to help at STORM Advokatfirma. We will prepare a claim letter and send it to your employer.

If the unpaid salary is not paid despite the demand letter and any additional later claims, the union or lawyer will file for bankruptcy against your employer.

If the unpaid salary is still not paid despite the demand letter, you can apply to the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (Employees’ Guarantee Fund) to cover your claim. The Lønmodtagernes Garantifond covers wage claims up to DKK 160,000.

However, the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond only covers you if your employer is declared bankrupt.

The next step will therefore be for your trade union or lawyer to file for bankruptcy against your employer. We can also help you prepare and submit the bankruptcy petition.

Please note that it can take up to 8 weeks after your employer is declared bankrupt before you receive payment from the Lønmodtagernes Garantifond.

If you have not received your salary, please telephone us on 72 30 12 05

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Mikkel Anker Pedersen
Mikkel Anker Pedersen
Advokat, Partner
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