Unpaid wages: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Composition of the debt: wages are payable at least once a month (Labour Code, Art. 41); overtime is paid at the increased hourly rate (Labour Code, Art. 27) (the employer keeps timesheets, must record hours worked and retain the records for 1 year (Labour Code, Art. 24)); downtime caused by the employer is paid in full (Labour Code, Art. 42); on dismissal, the final settlement is due no later than 7 calendar days after the employment relationship ends (Labour Code, Art. 44); compensation for unused leave is payable if the employer terminated the contract (Labour Code, Art. 31). Unlawful deductions must be returned: no more than 50% of wages may be withheld in a single payment (Labour Code, Art. 43).
2. Penalty: for each day of delay in any payment or settlement, 0.07% of the overdue amount is due (Labour Code, Art. 41). Calculate it separately for each payment, from its due date until it is paid.
3. Time limit: a claim under the Labour Code must be brought within 1 year from the moment the employee learned or should have learned of the violation (Labour Code, Art. 74). Do not rely on the 3-year period of the Civil Code for periodic payments (its application to wages is disputed) (Civil Code, Art. 129), because older months lapse one by one.
4. Pre-trial (not mandatory, but advantageous): a written notice to the employer stating the exact basis and the demands (Labour Code, Art. 62); the employer must respond within 10 calendar days (Labour Code, Art. 62); if there is no agreement within 14 calendar days, the matter goes to court (Labour Code, Art. 62); a party that avoids the procedure bears the burden of proof (Labour Code, Art. 62). In parallel, the Labour Inspection Service (შრომის ინსპექციის სამსახური) may act (Labour Code, Art. 75): for each violation it issues a warning or a fine (Labour Code, Art. 77).
5. Court: a labour dispute is considered within 1 month at the latest (Civil Procedure Code, Art. 59); the claim may be secured by attaching the employer's property and funds (Civil Procedure Code, Art. 198); wages awarded for no more than 3 months may be made subject to immediate enforcement (Civil Procedure Code, Art. 268).
6. Employer's insolvency: file the claim in the insolvency proceedings; check the order of priority of employee claims against the law in force.
7. Where to apply: the Labour Inspection Service; the court, civil panel of the district (city) court.
8. Evidence: employment contract and orders, pay slips, bank statements, correspondence and promises to pay, testimony of colleagues; timesheets should be requested from the employer.
9. Pitfalls: missing the one-year Labour Code time limit by relying on the Civil Code period; an incomplete notice, since the claim cannot be increased during the dispute, so state the entire debt and the penalty at once; confusing gross and net amounts; wages paid 'in an envelope' are almost impossible to prove.

Be sure to check

• composition of the debt (wages, overtime, final settlement, leave) and the 0.07% daily penalty
• Labour Code time limit: 1 year from the moment the violation became known
• procedure: written notice, response within 10 / 14 days, then the Labour Inspection Service and/or the court
• securing the claim and immediate enforcement; risk of the employer's insolvency