My employer did not pay my hours what can i do?
Short answer
In Quebec, an employee who has not received the wages, overtime, vacation pay or statutory holiday pay owed to them can file a monetary complaint with the CNESST (Quebec's labour standards, health and safety board). The time limit is 1 year from the date each amount became due (s. 115 of the Act respecting labour standards).
In detail
A monetary complaint requires no seniority: it is open to you from the very first day of work. It covers only the amounts provided for by the Act respecting labour standards — wages, overtime, time spent in training and meetings, travel requested by the employer, vacation pay, statutory holiday pay or termination pay.
The 1-year time limit is calculated separately for each amount, starting from the date it became payable. In practical terms, a missing pay from 14 months ago may be out of time while a pay from 8 months ago is not. What counts is the date the CNESST receives the complaint.
If the CNESST finds the claim well founded, it can claim the amounts from the employer on your behalf, including before the courts. Amounts that do not flow from the Act respecting labour standards (a bonus provided for only in your contract, for example) fall instead under a civil action, for which the limitation period is generally 3 years (art. 2925 of the Civil Code of Québec).
What to document
Every pay stub, your own day-by-day record of hours, the schedules posted or sent to you by message, the emails or texts in which you ask to be paid and the replies you received, and the hourly rate that was agreed on. A shortfall is proved by putting the hours worked and the hours paid side by side, week by week.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
- Act respecting labour standards (CQLR, c. N-1.1) — Légis Québec
- CNESST — Recourses and grounds for complaints under the labour standards (PDF)
- CNESST — Interpretation guide, section 115
Related questions
- After how many hours do i get paid overtime?
- Do i have the right to refuse overtime?
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- Do i have to pay for my work uniform?
- Do i get paid for training and travel time?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.