Complaining to the labour authorities: which forum, what it can order, and how long it takes
There is no single “labour commissioner complaint”. There are four different statutory routes with four different limitation periods, and the wrong one costs months you may not have.
How do I complain to the Labour Commissioner about unpaid salary?
“Labour Commissioner” is an office, not a remedy. The state labour department houses several distinct statutory roles, and which one you need depends entirely on what has gone wrong. Unpaid wages go to the authority under section 45 of the Code on Wages 2019. A dispute about how your employment ended goes to a conciliation officer under the Industrial Relations Code 2020. Gratuity goes somewhere else entirely, and provident fund does not go to the labour department at all.
The distinction is not academic. A conciliation officer cannot order your employer to pay you — they conciliate, and if that fails the matter goes to a Tribunal. The authority under section 45 can determine your claim, award compensation of up to 10 times the amount on top of it, and have the Collector recover it as an arrear of land revenue.
- Estimated time
- An hour to prepare, then months to resolve
- Cost / impact
- Free · no signup · runs in your browser
- What you need
- Appointment letter, payslips, resignation letter, your full correspondence
Four routes, and how to tell which is yours
Read the first column, find your situation, and note the limitation period in the fourth. That period is the single most consequential thing on this page, because it is the only one you cannot fix later.
| What has gone wrong | Where it goes | What that forum can do | Time limit | Related page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid wages, salary or settlement dues | Authority under Code on Wages 2019, s.45 | Determines the claim; may award compensation up to 10× the amount; recovery certificate to the Collector | 3 years from when the claim arises | Detail → |
| Gratuity refused, delayed or under-calculated | Competent authority under Code on Social Security 2020, s.58 | Determines the dispute with civil-court powers; directs payment with interest; appeal within 60 days | Apply in Form IV within 30 days; late applications considered for sufficient cause | Detail → |
| Discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination | Conciliation officer under Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.53 | Conciliates only. Cannot order. Reports within 45 days; you may go direct to the Tribunal after 45 days | 2 years from the date of termination for the Tribunal application | |
| Money already due under a settlement or award | Appropriate Government under Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.59 | Certifies the amount; the Collector then recovers it as an arrear of land revenue | 1 year from when the money became due | |
| Provident fund | EPFO — not the labour department at all | EPFiGMS grievance against the account or the establishment | No fixed period, but evidence decays | Detail → |
Labour authority complaint generator
Three different forums, three different letters. Picking the wrong one is the most expensive mistake at this stage.
Quote it in every letter. It is what payroll searches on.
Use the registered name on your appointment letter, not the brand name.
A named person, not “HR”. A letter addressed to a department is nobody's job to answer.
The registered office address, if you are sending a hard copy or a speed post.
Personal, never your work address — you will lose access to that one.
Put a number in, even an estimate you have flagged as one. An unquantified demand is easy to park.
Wages for work performed, and statutory bonus. Gratuity goes to the competent authority in Form VI instead, and retrenchment compensation runs on the Industrial Relations Code — listing them here invites an argument about the claim rather than the money.
These are covering letters and statements of your case, not prescribed forms. Most states also require a form and supporting copies, and some accept filings online. Confirm the current form, the fee if any, and the jurisdiction with the office before you file.
Your draft
0 of 12 details filled[Date]
To
The Authority under section 45 of the Code on Wages, 2019
Subject: Claim for unpaid wages — [Your full name] v. [Employer name] — ₹[amount]
Sir / Madam,
I respectfully submit this claim under section 45 of the Code on Wages, 2019 for determination of the wages due to me from [Employer name], [Employer's registered address].
Particulars of employment:
Name: [Your full name]
Designation: [Your designation]
Employee ID: [Employee ID]
Period of employment: [joining date] to [Last working day]
Amount claimed: approximately ₹[amount]
The amount claimed comprises:
[list the wage components claimed]
My employment ended on [Last working day]. Section 17(2) of the Code on Wages, 2019 requires that the wages payable to an employee who resigns, or is removed, dismissed or retrenched, be paid within two working days. That period has long expired and the amount above remains unpaid.
I have pursued the matter with the employer in writing. Copies of that correspondence are enclosed. No satisfactory response has been received.
I therefore request that this Authority determine the amount due to me and direct the employer to pay it, together with such compensation as the Authority considers appropriate under section 45, and grant such further relief as may be just.
Enclosed:
Appointment letter and the latest salary revision letter.
Payslips for the final months of employment.
Resignation letter and any acknowledgement of it.
All correspondence with the employer regarding the unpaid amount.
Relieving or experience letter, where issued.
I would be grateful for an acknowledgement of this claim.
Yours faithfully,
[Your full name]
[Your designation]
Employee ID: [Employee ID]
Email: [Your personal email]
Phone: [Your phone number]
Free, no signup, no email needed. Everything you type stays in this browser — the document is built on your device and nothing is sent to us.
First gate: which component is unpaid, and does it belong in a wage claim at all?
It is tempting to add up everything a settlement should have contained and file one claim for the total. Do not. A claim under section 45 of the Code on Wages decides claims arising under that Code, and the Code's own definition of “wages” in section 2(y) expressly excludes gratuity and retrenchment compensation, along with commission, house rent allowance, conveyance allowance and overtime.
Put a component in the wrong claim and you hand the employer an argument about the claim rather than about the money — and, worse, you may let the deadline run on the forum that actually had jurisdiction. Work down this table first.
| What is unpaid | In a s.45 wage claim? | Where it actually belongs | Time limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary or wages for work performed | Yes | Authority under Code on Wages s.45. This is the core case the section was written for. | 3 years |
| Statutory bonus | Yes | Also a claim arising under the Code on Wages, which contains the bonus provisions. | 3 years |
| Gratuity | No | Expressly excluded from “wages”. Competent authority under the Code on Social Security — Form VI. | 180 days for Form VI |
| Retrenchment compensation | No | Expressly excluded from “wages”. Industrial Relations Code route, and it only arises on retrenchment. | 2 years to the Tribunal |
| Leave encashment | Check first | Turns on your contract and policy and on whether it falls within the wage definition. Do not assume either way — take advice before choosing the forum. | Depends on route |
| Notice pay owed to you by the employer | Check first | Usually contractual. Where it arises from how the employment was ended it may belong in the industrial-dispute route instead. | Depends on route |
| Incentive, commission or variable pay | No | Commission is excluded from “wages”. This is a contractual claim governed by the scheme document. | Contractual |
| Expense reimbursement | No | Not remuneration for employment. Contractual, and usually the easiest line to unblock informally. | Contractual |
| Provident fund | No | Not the labour department at all. EPFO, through the member portal and EPFiGMS. | No fixed period |
The wage-claim generator below reflects this.Put only the amounts in the green rows into it. For gratuity, use the Form VI route; for anything marked “check first”, get the position on your own contract before you choose a forum. Filing two correctly-routed claims beats one claim that has to be argued about before anybody looks at the money.
Second gate: the industrial-dispute route is for “workers”
The conciliation and Tribunal machinery under the Industrial Relations Code is open to a worker. That is a defined term, not a synonym for employee, and a senior employee sent down this route without checking can spend months before the point is taken against them.
Within the definition
- Manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational or clerical work.
- Supervisory work, where wages are ₹18,000 a month or less (or such higher figure as may be notified).
- Working journalists and sales promotion employees, who are expressly included.
Outside it
- A person employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity.
- A person in a supervisory capacity drawing wages above the threshold.
- Apprentices, who are expressly excluded.
Two things stop this being a simple salary test. It turns on what you actually did, not on your job title — courts look at the substance of the role, and an impressive designation over largely clerical or technical work does not by itself take you outside the definition. And the threshold figure is capable of being raised by notification, so check the current number rather than assuming.
If you may be outside the definition, take advice before filing. A claim for unpaid wages under the Code on Wages does not depend on being a worker under the Industrial Relations Code, so the money route may still be open to you even where the industrial-dispute route is not. Those are different questions, and conflating them is how senior employees end up believing they have no remedy at all.
Third gate: which labour office has jurisdiction
Jurisdiction turns on who the appropriate Government is for your establishment, and then on where the establishment sits.
- Is your employer in the Central sphere?Railways, major ports, mines, oilfields, banking and insurance companies, and central public sector undertakings broadly fall to the Central Government. Most private companies do not.
- CentralCentral sphereThe Central Government is the appropriate Government — the relevant central labour machinery, including the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central) for your region.StateEverything elseThe State Government of the state in which the establishment is situated — its Labour Department, and the office covering that district or zone.
- Then narrow by work locationOrdinarily the office covering the establishment where you worked, not where the company is headquartered and not where you now live.
Where you worked remotely for an establishment registered elsewhere, ask the office rather than assuming — this is genuinely unsettled in practice and the office will tell you.
- Confirm the form, the fee and the mode before filingSeveral states now accept filings online. The prescribed form and any fee are set by state rules and change.
We deliberately do not publish a directory of state filing links here. Those URLs change often, and a stale link on a page like this sends somebody to a dead end at the worst possible moment. The reliable method is below.
How to identify your office, reliably
- 1Take the address of the establishment where you actually worked, from your appointment letter or payslip.
- 2Search for the Labour Department of that state — the official site will be on a gov.in or nic.in domain. Treat anything else as unofficial.
- 3Look for the office covering that district or zone; most state departments publish a jurisdiction list of Labour Officers, Assistant and Deputy Labour Commissioners.
- 4Ring or email that office and state your situation in one sentence: what is unpaid, where you worked, and when you left. Ask which authority and which form.
- 5Ask, in the same call, whether filing is accepted online and what the fee is. Confirm before you prepare anything.
The Shram Suvidha portal (shramsuvidha.gov.in) is the Ministry of Labour & Employment's unified compliance portal and is a reasonable starting point for identifying central-sphere machinery. It is an employer-facing compliance system rather than a complaints portal, so do not expect to file a personal claim through it.
Who you are actually writing to
People say “I will go to the Labour Commissioner” the way they might say “I will go to the police” — as though it were a single door with a single remedy behind it. The office is real and the staff are helpful, but the powers are distributed across several statutory roles, and a letter addressed to the wrong one is redirected at best.
The authority under section 45
Appointed by the appropriate Government, not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer. This is the one that decides money claims under the Code on Wages, awards compensation on top, and issues a recovery certificate to the Collector. It is the closest thing to a court that you can approach yourself.
The conciliation officer
Appointed under the Industrial Relations Code. Investigates the dispute and does everything he thinks fit to induce the parties to a fair and amicable settlement — but cannot impose one. Their power is procedural and persuasive, and their report is what carries the matter onward.
The Inspector-cum-Facilitator
Appointed under section 51 of the Code on Wages. Their functions expressly include giving advice to employers and workers on compliance with the Code, alongside inspecting establishments and taking copies of wage records. An underused first port of call when you are not sure whether you have a claim.
The competent authority
Gratuity only, appointed under section 58 of the Code on Social Security. Inquires with the powers of a civil court and directs payment. Note the name — it replaced the controlling authority when the codes came into force, and citing the old one invites a correction.
You do not need a union, and you do not need anyone else to join you
A widespread belief among white-collar employees is that the industrial-dispute machinery is for factories and unions, and that an individual with a grievance about a settlement has no standing in it. That has not been the position for a long time, and the Industrial Relations Code puts it beyond argument.
An individual termination is an industrial dispute
Where an employer discharges, dismisses, retrenches or otherwise terminates the services of an individual worker, any dispute or difference between that worker and the employer connected with or arising out of it is deemed to be an industrial dispute, notwithstanding that no other worker and no trade union is a party to it.
Two consequences worth acting on. First, you can raise the dispute alone. Second, the machinery has a built-in escape from indefinite conciliation: where your dispute concerns your discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination, you may apply directly to the Tribunal after 45 days from the date you applied to the conciliation officer. You are not dependent on the conciliation concluding.
Separately, on the wage-claim side, a single application may cover any number of employees of the same establishment. If a group of you left in the same round and none of you were paid, that is one filing rather than several — which changes the economics considerably.
What actually happens at conciliation
Conciliation is not a hearing and it is not an adjudication. The officer investigates the dispute and everything affecting its merits, and does what he thinks fit to induce the parties to come to a fair and amicable settlement. In practice that means a series of meetings at which both sides are present, an officer who will press each of you on the weakest part of your position, and a strong institutional preference for a settlement over a referral.
Four things worth knowing before you walk in:
- Bring the file, not the story. Documents move conciliation; narrative does not. The appointment letter, the payslips, the resignation and the correspondence, in date order, with a one-page summary on top.
- Know your number and its basis. A figure you can derive line by line is worth several times a figure you assert. This is why the calculators on this hub show their working — so you can put the same arithmetic in front of the officer.
- Decide your floor beforehand. You will be asked, in the room, whether you would accept less. Deciding that in advance, with the alternative in mind, is a much better position than deciding it under pressure.
- A settlement reached here is enforceable. That is the real value of conciliation. Money due under a settlement can be recovered under section 59 of the Industrial Relations Code — certified by the appropriate Government and collected by the Collector as an arrear of land revenue. But note the limitation on that route is one year from when the money became due, which is short.
Realistic timelines. The report is due within 45 days of proceedings commencing, and the wage-claim authority is directed to endeavour to decide within 3 months. Both are directions to the officer rather than promises to you, and the practical experience varies considerably by state and by office load. Plan on months, not weeks — and start early enough that the 2-year limitation on a Tribunal application is not being eaten by an internal escalation.
What to take with you
Assemble this before you write anything. The act of assembling it usually also tells you which forum you are in, because the gap in the file is normally the dispute.
Appointment letter
The source of your notice period, your salary components and often the exit-document clause.
Salary revision letters
Your pay at the relevant time, which decides most of the arithmetic.
Payslips for the disputed period
The per-day rate and the pay components every deduction argument turns on.
Resignation or termination letter
With any acknowledgement. This fixes the date everything counts from.
Relieving or experience letter
If issued. If not, that absence is itself part of your case.
Settlement statement
If received. If you signed it, bring the covering email too.
The full correspondence
In date order. This is what shows you attempted resolution internally.
Bank statements
Showing salary credits, and showing the settlement credit or its absence.
Proof of your last working day
The relieving letter, the final payslip, or your EPF exit date. Every limitation period counts from a date somebody has to accept.
Asset-return acknowledgement
The single most common stated reason a settlement is held. If you have it, the reason evaporates.
Your own calculation of the amount
Line by line, with the basis for each. A figure you can derive is worth several you assert.
The written demand you already sent
Every forum asks what you did internally first. This is what makes the filing look like a last resort rather than an opening move.
Email and message chronology
In date order, exported rather than screenshotted where you can. What was said, and when, is usually the whole dispute.
Where this sits in your exit
Seven things happen when you leave a job in India, and they fall due in this order — not the order most people expect. Your final wages are due before your relieving letter, and both are due before the rest of the settlement.
- Already due
Resignation submitted
Day 0Contract / policy
The day your letter is delivered and acknowledged
- Already due
Last working day
End of noticeContract / policy
Notice period in your appointment letter, less any waiver
- Already due
Final wages paid
2 working daysStatutory
Your last working day
- Already due
Relieving and experience letters
10 daysConditional
Your last working day
- Already due
Gratuity paid
30 daysStatutory
The date the gratuity becomes payable
- This page
Rest of the settlement
Policy, often 30–45 daysContract / policy
Your last working day
- Still ahead
PF withdrawn or transferred
Your own timingYou control this
Your exit date being reported — by the employer, or by you after two months
- Already due
Resignation submitted
Day 0Contract / policy
An acknowledgement proves the letter was received and fixes when notice started. It is not itself the trigger for the statutory payment deadlines — those run from your last working day.
From: The day your letter is delivered and acknowledged
Write my resignation letter - Already due
Last working day
End of noticeContract / policy
Your notice period comes from your contract, not from statute. The date it lands on decides your service length, your final month's salary and your leave balance.
From: Notice period in your appointment letter, less any waiver
Work out my last working day - Already due
Final wages paid
2 working daysStatutory
Wages for the days you actually worked. This is the shortest deadline in the whole exit and the one employers most often miss.
From: Your last working day
Chase unpaid wages - Already due
Relieving and experience letters
10 daysConditional
A service certificate is due within ten days where the Model Standing Orders apply to your establishment. Below that threshold the relieving letter is a contract and policy question, not a statutory one.
From: Your last working day
Request my relieving letter - Already due
Gratuity paid
30 daysStatutory
The employer must determine the amount, notify you and the competent authority, and pay within thirty days — with simple interest running if it is late.
From: The date the gratuity becomes payable
Gratuity not paid - This page
Rest of the settlement
Policy, often 30–45 daysContract / policy
Leave encashment, bonus, reimbursements and any notice adjustment. These run on your contract and your employer's policy, which is why a blanket “two working days” demand for the whole settlement is easy to deflect.
From: Your last working day
Settlement not received - Still ahead
PF withdrawn or transferred
Your own timingYou control this
Your PF sits with the EPFO, not your employer, so it is never part of the settlement. Your employer should report your date of exit, but if it does not, you can mark it yourself on the member portal once two months have passed since the last contribution.
From: Your exit date being reported — by the employer, or by you after two months
PF claim stuck or rejected
- Resignation submitted
- An acknowledgement proves the letter was received and fixes when notice started. It is not itself the trigger for the statutory payment deadlines — those run from your last working day. Write my resignation letter →
- Last working day
- Your notice period comes from your contract, not from statute. The date it lands on decides your service length, your final month's salary and your leave balance. Work out my last working day →
- Final wages paid
- Wages for the days you actually worked. This is the shortest deadline in the whole exit and the one employers most often miss. Chase unpaid wages →
- Relieving and experience letters
- A service certificate is due within ten days where the Model Standing Orders apply to your establishment. Below that threshold the relieving letter is a contract and policy question, not a statutory one. Request my relieving letter →
- Gratuity paid
- The employer must determine the amount, notify you and the competent authority, and pay within thirty days — with simple interest running if it is late. Gratuity not paid →
- Rest of the settlementThis page
- Leave encashment, bonus, reimbursements and any notice adjustment. These run on your contract and your employer's policy, which is why a blanket “two working days” demand for the whole settlement is easy to deflect. Settlement not received →
- PF withdrawn or transferred
- Your PF sits with the EPFO, not your employer, so it is never part of the settlement. Your employer should report your date of exit, but if it does not, you can mark it yourself on the member portal once two months have passed since the last contribution. PF claim stuck or rejected →
Reading the badges. A statutory deadline is written into the Code and applies whatever your contract says. A conditional one applies only where your establishment meets a threshold — the ten-day service certificate, for instance, comes from standing orders that reach establishments of three hundred or more workers. A contract / policydeadline exists only because your appointment letter or your employer's policy created it, which is where most of the exit actually lives. And you control this marks the step nobody else has to take for you — the provident fund, where you can mark your own date of exit if your employer has not.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Labour Commissioner, and can they order my employer to pay me?+
Which forum do I go to for unpaid salary?+
Which forum do I go to about how my employment ended?+
How long does conciliation take, and what if it fails?+
Is there a deadline for taking a termination dispute to the Tribunal?+
What is the difference between a wage claim and a recovery application?+
Do I need a lawyer to file with the labour authority?+
What should I bring when I file?+
Next
What to do next
- 1
Send the formal demand first, if you have not
Every forum here asks what you did internally. A dated reminder and a dated demand are what make the filing credible rather than premature.
Settlement demand generator - 2
Confirm which forum your dispute belongs in
Wages, gratuity, termination and recovery are four different routes with four different time limits. Take advice on the choice before you file — it is the expensive one to get wrong.
- 3
Consider a formal legal notice as the step before filing
It is not a court filing and creates no obligation to respond, but a meaningful share of disputes settle at exactly that point.
See what a legal notice contains(opens in a new tab)
Sources for the figures on this page
Years within which a claim for unpaid wages must be filed
Code on Wages 2019, s.45(6) — an application may be filed within three years from the date on which the claim arises, and the authority may entertain a later application on sufficient cause being shown.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Multiple of the claim the authority may award as compensation on top of the amount itself
Code on Wages 2019, s.45(3) — while deciding a claim the authority may direct payment of compensation in addition to the claim determined, which may extend to ten times the claim determined. The authority is appointed by the appropriate Government and is not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Months within which the authority shall endeavour to decide a wage claim
Code on Wages 2019, s.45(3) — the authority shall endeavour to decide the claim within a period of three months. Where the employer does not pay the amount ordered, the authority issues a certificate to the Collector, who recovers it as an arrear of land revenue.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
The officer who inspects establishments under the Code on Wages, and whose stated function includes advising employees
Code on Wages 2019, s.51 — the appropriate Government appoints Inspector-cum-Facilitators for a specified jurisdiction. Their functions expressly include giving advice to employers and workers relating to compliance with the Code, as well as inspecting establishments, examining any person believed to be a worker, and searching, seizing or taking copies of wage records. They are deemed public servants.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Does one employee's termination count as an industrial dispute, with no union involved?
Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.53 — where an employer discharges, dismisses, retrenches or otherwise terminates the services of an individual worker, any dispute between that worker and the employer connected with or arising out of it is deemed to be an industrial dispute, notwithstanding that no other worker and no Trade Union is a party to it.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Days within which the conciliation officer must report, and after which a terminated worker may go straight to the Tribunal
Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.53 — the conciliation officer sends the report to the parties and the appropriate Government within forty-five days of the commencement of conciliation proceedings, or a shorter period fixed by the appropriate Government. A worker whose services have been discharged, dismissed, retrenched or otherwise terminated may apply directly to the Tribunal for adjudication after forty-five days from the date of the application made to the conciliation officer.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Years from termination within which an individual worker's application must reach the Tribunal
Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.53 — the application must be made to the Tribunal before the expiry of two years from the date of discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or otherwise termination of service. Separately, the conciliation officer may not hold conciliation proceedings relating to an industrial dispute after two years from the date the dispute arose.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Years within which to apply for recovery of money due under a settlement or award
Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.59 — where money is due to a worker under a settlement, an award, or Chapter X, the worker (or a person authorised in writing) may apply to the appropriate Government for recovery, within one year from the date the money became due, extendable where sufficient cause for the delay is shown. On being satisfied, the appropriate Government issues a certificate and the Collector recovers the amount as an arrear of land revenue. A single application may be made in respect of any number of workers of the same employer.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Forum for a gratuity dispute, for an exit on or after 21 November 2025 — the competent authority, not the controlling authority
Code on Social Security 2020, s.56 (determination of amount of gratuity: employer must determine and notify the employee and the competent authority, pay within thirty days, pay simple interest on delay; disputes determined by the competent authority; appeal within sixty days, extendable by sixty) read with s.58 (appointment of the competent authority by the appropriate Government). For exits before 21 November 2025 the equivalent route was the controlling authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972.
View sourceChecked 2026-08-14
Written and reviewed by Deepak Middha, Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) and founder of LayoffNext.
Deepak Middha is the founder of LayoffNext and a Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India). A U.S. immigrant with nearly 20 years of experience — and 17 years in hedge fund and private equity administration, including as Vice President of Fund Accounting at NAV Fund Administration Group and Associate Director of Private Equity and Real Estate at SS&C Technologies — he builds free, plain-language layoff tools and guides for employees, H-1B workers, and immigrant families.