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26.07.2019

Don’t litigate to the last if you see that employee is in the right

If a salary dispute comes to court, you should take into account the burden of proof and the statute of limitation, and in certain situations you‘d better acknowledge yourself in the wrong.

Remember on whom the burden of proof lies.

Unlike employee termination disputes, in salary disputes it is the employee who is required to evidence his entitlement to the amount claimed.

Example

In a dispute over overtime payment, the employee is required to produce evidence of his overtime work performed with the knowledge or on request of the employer and the duration of such overtime.

Check the statute of limitation – maybe the employee has missed it.

In salary disputes, employees not infrequently claim compensation for a lengthy period, as they believe that relevant violations are deemed continuing. However, a violation is only deemed continuing if the non-paid salary has been calculated and shown in paysheets. If paysheets do not show the disputed amount, the violation is not continuing and the one-year statute of limitation is to be counted from the due date for payment of such amount.

Thus, with respect to a period exceeding one year, the employer should submit to the court that the employee has missed the applicable statute of limitation, and this will be a stand-alone ground for dismissal of the employee’s claim for such period. As the relevant case-law shows, in most cases employees are unable to evidence valid reasons for their missing the statute of limitation if the employer can evidence that the employee was given monthly notices with a breakdown of his salary.

Don’t litigate to the last if you see that employee is in the right.

Otherwise, you may just get an increase of your debt. Where the facts obviously show that the claim amount is due to the employee by virtue of law and will be awarded by court, it is reasonable to pay the debt voluntarily in the context of the legal proceedings and calculate and pay the employee a monetary compensation for the delay in salary payment together with payment of the debt.