Chrissy Bell is a senior advisor with Acas and spent 10 years working on its helpline.
Acas provides free, impartial advice to employees and employers on workplace rights and disputes.
“If someone is expecting their wages on a certain date and it doesn’t arrive or it doesn’t arrive in full, then if people haven’t got savings, even a small amount of difference can be the difference between them paying their bills and not being able to pay them,” says Chrissy.
She has this advice to anyone who believes they have not been paid the correct amount,
“Firstly, work out the amount you should have been paid. So check payslips, timesheets, contracts and the first step is to speak to the employers, as there may have been a genuine mistake.”
If this does not work, she suggests putting a more formal grievance in writing, setting out any evidence, including timesheets, and then giving the employer a reasonable chance to respond.
Finally, she says if it is not resolved internally after a reasonable amount of time then the person should consider making a claim to an employment tribunal if they are owed outstanding wages.
“If someone gets an award at an employment tribunal then there are systems in place to help them enforce it if necessary,” she says.
Martha Lindeque declined to provide a statement, but the BBC understands that her position is that she strongly denies the allegations made by her ex-staff.
