back-pay
Definition
- Noun:
- Unpaid wages owed: "back-pay" refers to salary or wages that have not been paid for work already performed, often due to a dispute, administrative delay, or retroactive adjustment.
- Compensation for past service: It can also mean money paid to an employee to cover a period during which they were underpaid or not paid at all.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The workers received their back-pay after the strike was resolved. (The company paid the wages that were overdue.)
- She filed a claim for back-pay for the extra hours she worked last month. (She requested compensation for unpaid overtime.)
Advanced Usage
"to claim back-pay": to formally request unpaid wages.
- The union helped the employees claim back-pay from the employer. (The union assisted in obtaining overdue salary.)
"to be owed back-pay": to have a legal right to receive unpaid compensation.
- After the contract was revised, several staff members were owed back-pay. (They were entitled to retroactive payment.)
Variants and Related Words
Back pay (n): a common alternative spelling without a hyphen (often used in legal or business contexts).
- The court ordered the company to pay back pay to all affected workers. (The judge mandated compensation for unpaid wages.)
Backdated (adj): applied or effective from an earlier date.
- The salary increase was backdated to the start of the year. (It was made effective retroactively.)
Synonyms
- Arrears: money that is owed and should have been paid earlier.
- Retroactive pay: payment made for work done in a previous period, often after a wage increase.
Phrasal Verbs
- Pay back: to return money owed (not specific to wages).
- The employer will pay back the missing wages next week. (The company will reimburse the overdue salary.)
Related Idioms
- Back pay is due: a phrase indicating that unpaid wages are legally required.
- The auditor confirmed that back pay is due for the past three months. (The financial review showed overdue compensation exists.)