Pay missing or your payslip looks wrong?
Compare the same pay period, separate gross pay from deductions, and prepare a clear question before choosing a complaint route.
Prepared 3 October 2026 · General preparation, with location-specific official links below.
First, find your location
Your work location, employment status and issue determine the applicable route. Open the relevant country and confirm its coverage.
United States
Check where the work took place and the federal, state or local rule. Wage claims and discrimination charges use different services.
- DOL · Wage and Hour complaints ↗
- DOL · State labour offices ↗
- EEOC · Employment discrimination charges ↗
California wage issue? Use the DLSE route for that state.
United Kingdom
Acas covers Great Britain. Northern Ireland has a separate Labour Relations Agency. Check the relevant route and claim deadline.
Canada
First check whether your employer is federally regulated. Otherwise use the relevant province or territory, not Ontario by default. ROE and EI are separate federal services.
Ontario provincial employment or British Columbia? These provincial routes are separate from federal employment standards.
Australia
Fair Work Ombudsman deals with national-system pay and minimum entitlements. The Fair Work Commission handles separate dismissal and other applications; verify your coverage and the correct service.
China · Mainland
Use the actual work location and relevant local service. Labour inspection, employment dispute arbitration and social-insurance issues may use different routes; ask 12333 or the local department to confirm.
Gather these facts
- The pay-period dates, agreed payday and the date money actually arrived.
- Your agreed rate or fixed pay, original payslip, and your own daily work records.
- Separate ordinary hours, extra work, paid leave, bonuses and each deduction; mark anything you cannot verify.
Match the period and payment
A bank deposit is net money, while your agreement may describe gross pay. Compare gross with gross first. Check whether the payment is split, an adjustment relates to an earlier period, or the payslip includes a benefit rather than cash. Keep the original statement, not only a screenshot of the deposit.
Record the disputed hours and amounts
Write down the work you actually did and what the payslip records. For automatic break deductions, note when you stopped working and whether work interrupted the break. A pay period and the legally relevant workweek may differ. Do not apply an overtime multiplier until coverage, hours and the applicable rule are checked.
Ask payroll for a written breakdown
List the period, the disputed line, the figure you used and the explanation you need. Ask which rate, hours and deduction authority were used. Keep the response and any corrected payslip. If the explanation is missing or the problem continues, use the relevant official service below; check its coverage and filing time limits promptly.
A worked example
Example: you record 38 hours at an agreed rate of 20, but the payslip shows 36 hours. Your first question is about the missing two hours and any break adjustment. This comparison alone does not establish a legal wage claim.
Tools for this problem
Check the current official process
Scope, eligibility, required evidence and filing deadlines differ. Use the official pages above and get appropriate advice about a dispute. These are our practical preparation guides, not official translations or a finding of wrongdoing.
Report a correction →