Bringing an employment tribunal claim for the NMW





A worker can bring an employment tribunal claim for NMW arrears as an unlawful deduction from wages (see page 105), or a civil claim for breach of contract (see Chapter 3). An employment tribunal claim must be brought within three months (less one day) of the most recent non-payment. Only two years of NMW arrears can be recovered using a wages claim in the employment tribunal, no matter how far back the arrears extend. By contrast, six years of arrears can be recovered in a civil court claim for contract breach (usually the small claims court). 



The first step in any tribunal claim is to contact Acas for Early Conciliation (EC), which is free of charge. This step must be taken within the deadline for bringing the claim. No tribunal claim can be brought without an Acas EC Certificate. For information, see Chapter 14.




In practice, most employment tribunal claims for the NMW are group claims that affect a large number of workers or have wider strategic importance, brought with union support (such as wages for sleep-in shifts for careworkers) or claims that also involve other tribunal jurisdictions such as discrimination or unfair dismissal. Workers with straightforward claims NMW arrears are often better off asking HMRC to enforce their rights on their behalf (see above).