Work dispute: not paid or rights broken

The ACAS route (if your work was legal)

1. 1

   Collect everything in writing: contract, payslips, messages, hours. No contract? Messages, photos of rotas, witnesses all count.

2. 2

   Write to your employer (in writing!): how much they owe and by what date you expect it. Often this is enough.

3. 3

   If not — ACAS Early Conciliation: the free government conciliator. It is a mandatory step before court. Apply online at acas.org.uk or call 0300 123 1100 (Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, free interpreter — say "Russian" or "Uzbek"). The queue is currently around 7 weeks, so do not delay.

4. 4

   Negotiation. The employer will most likely offer money to close the dispute. The first offer is almost always low — you do not have to answer straight away: take a pause, calculate what you are really owed (wages + holiday pay + late payment), name your figure. The ACAS conciliator passes offers between you; they cannot pressure you.

5. 5

   No agreement — Employment Tribunal. Filing was free as of our last check; a lawyer is not required but helps — many advise on work disputes for free (see "Who to contact").

Important: dismissing or punishing you for complaining is unlawful (victimisation) — a separate violation with separate compensation.

If you worked without permission

Let us say it plainly, without judgement: many people in your situation worked because waiting with no money is impossible. But the route to your money here is different:

• Do not apply to ACAS or a court yourself. To claim wages you would have to show that you worked — and work outside visa conditions is a breach that carries penalties. Courts also, as a rule, do not enforce pay under an "illegal" contract.
• What works instead:
  1. A free adviser first. Work Rights Centre (advice available in Russian), law centres, ATLEU. An adviser will assess what can be claimed safely: discrimination and injury claims can sometimes survive even illegal work — but only a lawyer decides that, not you and not us.
  2. If you were systematically deceived — never paid from the start, passport taken, threats, controlled housing, a "debt" for getting you the job — that is not a work dispute anymore, that is exploitation. Protection from it does not depend on status: Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline 08000 121 700 (free, can be anonymous, interpreters). A decision about the NRM — only after talking to a lawyer: it affects your case, and a specialist must weigh it.
  3. Dangerous conditions, injury — HSE and a doctor: always record your health, this does not depend on status.

We do not give immigration advice here: how all this connects to your asylum case is a question for an IAA-registered adviser → /database/lawyers

Self-employed (construction, invoices)

If you are self-employed, ACAS and the Employment Tribunal are not your route: they are for workers. Your route:

1. 1

   Letter before claim: the amount, what for, 14-day deadline, "then court".

2. 2

   Money claim online (county court): online, amounts up to £10,000 go through the simplified small claims track, the fee depends on the amount — from £35.

3. 3

   Attach: invoices, messages, photos of the work, witnesses.

But first check — are you really self-employed? If they tell you where and when to work, give you tools, pay by the hour, and there is one client — legally you may be a worker, even if the paper says "self-employed". Then you have minimum wage, holiday pay — and the ACAS route. This is called false self-employment, and construction is full of it. Free check: Work Rights Centre.