How Much Back Wages Can You Get?
You are wondering what a successful unfair dismissal claim could actually be worth.
Knowing the real numbers helps you make better decisions, whether that means pushing a claim forward or considering a settlement. This page sets out how back wages and compensation actually work.
What Are Back Wages?
Back wages are the salary you lost while out of work, calculated from your dismissal date to the last day of the hearing. They are capped at 24 months of last-drawn salary for a confirmed employee, and 12 months for a probationer.1
If you found new work in the meantime, those earnings can be deducted from the award, so back wages fill the gap rather than doubling your income during the dispute.
What Is Compensation In Lieu Of Reinstatement?
The claim under Section 20 formally asks for reinstatement, getting your job back. In practice, the Industrial Court often orders compensation instead, especially where trust has broken down beyond repair.
That compensation is commonly discussed using a guideline of around one month of salary for each completed year of service, though it remains a guideline, not a fixed right.2
Is Either Amount Promised To Me?
No. The law sets a ceiling, not a promise. Your employer carries the burden of proving there was just cause for your dismissal, but the actual amount still depends on the Industrial Court’s assessment of your specific facts.3
Anyone who tells you an exact figure before reviewing your case is getting ahead of what the process actually allows.
Does Settling Instead Change The Numbers?
A settlement reached at conciliation, or through direct negotiation, replaces a court award with an agreed figure. It is often lower than the statutory cap, traded for certainty and a faster outcome.
Knowing the cap and the guideline above gives you a realistic range to judge any offer against, rather than accepting or rejecting a number blind.
What Should I Do Before Estimating My Own Figure?
Gather your last-drawn salary, your exact start and end dates, and whether you were confirmed or still on probation. These three facts drive most of the calculation.
From there, a short conversation can place your situation against the caps and guideline above, and clarify whether reinstatement, compensation or a settlement fits your priorities best.
Telling us your last-drawn salary, your years of service, and whether you were confirmed or on probation helps us explain what range applies to your situation.
Common questions
Am I guaranteed back wages if I win my case?
No outcome is promised, and the Industrial Court decides case by case. What the law sets is a ceiling, not a promise, so winning establishes that a wrong occurred, while the amount still depends on your specific facts.
Why would I get compensation instead of my job back?
The Court can order reinstatement, but often awards compensation instead once trust between you and your employer has clearly broken down. Whether that fits your case depends on the facts, including whether you would even want to return.
Does resigning instead of being dismissed change the amount?
Not automatically. If your resignation counts as constructive dismissal, the same remedies and caps apply as any other dismissal. What matters is proving the dismissal itself, not how you left on paper.
Do I lose everything if I settle instead of going to the Industrial Court?
No. A settlement is simply a different route to a monetary outcome, agreed directly instead of awarded by a court. Many people settle for less than the statutory cap in exchange for certainty and a faster resolution.
Sources
- Back wages awarded by the Industrial Court are capped at 24 months of last-drawn salary for a confirmed employee, and 12 months for a probationer, and earnings made elsewhere after dismissal may be deducted from that award. Donovan & Ho, Back Wages at the Industrial Court
- Compensation in lieu of reinstatement is commonly discussed using a guideline of around one month of last-drawn salary for each completed year of service, though this is a guideline, not a legal right. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates, Unfair Dismissal
- The burden of proving there was just cause or excuse for a dismissal rests on the employer, not on the employee, once a claim reaches the Industrial Court. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates, Unfair Dismissal
Keep reading
Telling us your last-drawn salary, your years of service, and whether you were confirmed or on probation helps us explain what range applies to your situation.