One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: Wages for work you have actually done are a recoverable debt, even if the engagement was purely verbal. You can send a demand notice and file a civil suit for recovery, and if you were treated as an employee under the applicable state establishment law, a complaint to the labour authority is also open. What you should not do is name and shame the employer on social media, because a truthful post can still land you in a defamation complaint if it crosses certain lines.
The offer came over a handshake in the second week of March 2025. Sameer Deshpande had been training at a fitness outlet in Vijay Nagar, Indore since he was fifteen. When the franchise owner, Rajeev Bhatia, asked him to come on board as a floor trainer, he said yes on the spot. No appointment letter. No written terms. A WhatsApp message confirming the pay, a uniform, and the usual roster.
He worked fifteen days. On day one he told the owner that he has ADHD and takes medication for it. It changes nothing except that he speaks softly. Everyone on that floor knew him for years. His brother Nikhil, a web designer, built the gym's website and handled the SEO for free, on a promise of a complimentary membership that never materialised.
The pay did not come either. When Nikhil followed up in writing, the reply was a flat denial. Within a day or two, "complaints" appeared, and the same ADHD that had never been an issue suddenly was. The termination landed around 20 March 2025, while the gym was mid-renovation.
That is when they approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. The office preserved the chats, the CCTV timestamps and the uniform records, issued a demand notice, and pursued the claim before the appropriate forum. Advocate Sudhir Rao's experience in wage and contract disputes helped secure an order in the client's favour, and the outstanding dues were paid.
Key Facts of the Case
- The engagement was verbal. No appointment letter, no written contract, no fixed salary structure on paper.
- The trainer worked about fifteen days in March 2025 at a gym in Vijay Nagar, Indore.
- Pay was confirmed over WhatsApp, and the owner later denied the promise in the same chat thread.
- Available proof included chat messages, CCTV footage, the uniform and the duty roster.
- ADHD was disclosed on the first day and did not affect his work. It surfaced as a "complaint" only after the pay demand.
- The termination came around 20 March 2025, at a time when the gym was undergoing major renovation.
- A separate promise of complimentary membership for the website and SEO work was never honoured.
- The owner sent a message threatening to visit the trainer's residence.
Salary Not Paid by Employer: The Direct Legal Answer
Three separate questions arise here, and they have different answers. Take them one at a time.
Can the unpaid salary be recovered?
Yes, in principle. Work performed under an agreed arrangement creates a debt. If the contract is verbal and hard to prove, Section 70 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 still obliges a person who enjoys the benefit of another's non-gratuitous work to compensate him. Practically, the route is a written demand notice followed by a civil suit for recovery of money, or a complaint before the labour authority if the trainer qualifies as an employee under the applicable state establishment law. Whether he qualifies depends on the state statute and the nature of the engagement, and that is a fact question.
Is severance or notice pay payable?
Usually not on these facts. Retrenchment compensation and notice pay under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 attach to "continuous service", which is commonly understood as 240 days in a twelve-month period. Fifteen days does not get there. Severance can still be asked for as a goodwill settlement, but it is not a legal entitlement unless a contract or a state rule says so.
Can this be posted on social media?
Careful. Truth is a defence, but it has edges. Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — the provision that replaced Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code — covers words "intended to be read," which is exactly what a public post is. Truth is one of the listed exceptions, but the exception is not a free pass: the imputation has to be true and its publication has to be for the public good, and that second half is where most angry posts fail. The moment a caption slips from "he has not paid my salary" into "fraud", "chor" or "thief", you are no longer stating a fact about a delayed payment. You are imputing a criminal offence, and that is a different thing.
What Should You Do When Salary Is Not Paid by Employer?
The order matters. Most people do the loudest thing first and the useful thing last. Reverse it.
Step 1: Put the record together before anything else
Chat messages, the roster, the uniform issue register, gate or CCTV timestamps, the names of members who saw you working the floor, and the agreed rate. For a verbal engagement, this is the whole case. Two practical points people get wrong. First, do not delete any chat, not even the ones where you lost your temper, and do not clear the device the chats are on. Second, if the chats are going to be produced in court, the electronic record needs a certificate under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — in practice, take a signed certificate from the person in possession of the phone, describing the device and how the record was taken.
Step 2: Do the arithmetic and fix the number
Days worked, rate agreed, amount due, and the date each payment fell due. A demand notice with a vague figure invites a vague reply. If there is a separate unpaid promise — design work, website work, a promised membership — keep it as a separate line, because it is a separate claim.
Step 3: Send a demand notice
A written demand, giving fifteen days to pay, sent by email and registered post to the establishment's registered address. A lawyer's letter is not legally compulsory, but it does two things a personal message cannot: it fixes a date for the record, and it usually produces either payment or a written denial. Either outcome is useful. A denial in writing is evidence.
Step 4: Pick the forum
- Payment of Wages Authority under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 — available if your monthly wage is within the notified ceiling (currently ₹24,000) and the establishment is covered. This is usually the fastest route, and a claim is generally to be filed within twelve months of the date the wages fell due, with a limited power to condone delay.
- The state Shops and Establishments Act for the state where the establishment sits — these statutes cover notice periods and service conditions, and the inspector's office can be approached.
- Labour court or industrial dispute route — only realistic if you can establish continuous service and the establishment is an "industry." For fifteen days of work, this is not the road.
- Civil suit for recovery of money — the general route when no labour statute covers you, or when the amount is too large for the wage authority. Limitation is three years from when the work was done. Expect a year or more, court fee as per the state court-fees Act, and a real risk on proof if the chats are thin.
Where the law is genuinely unsettled: the four labour codes that consolidate these statutes — the Code on Wages, 2019 among them — were notified to come into force in November 2025. For an engagement that ended in March 2025, which statute governs your claim is a transitional question that turns on the dates in your own papers. I would not guess at it from a distance; it needs to be checked against the notification and the state rules.
Step 5: Deal with the threats properly
A message threatening to turn up at a person's home is not something to answer in a chat. It goes into the same evidence file, and if the behaviour continues, a written complaint at the local police station — a threat of injury is punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and an application for protection can be moved before the Magistrate. Keep the copy of the complaint. Do not go to the premises to argue.
What Not to Do
- Do not post the dispute online, however true it is. Defamation complaints are filed on exactly this material, and an employer with a lawyer will use your own post as the first exhibit.
- Do not sign a "no dues" or full-and-final settlement letter under pressure. Signing it can end the claim.
- Do not wait. Three years looks long until it is gone.
- Do not assume a police complaint will get your salary back. Non-payment of wages is ordinarily a civil wrong; it becomes cheating only where the intention to not pay existed from the very beginning, and proving that intention for a fifteen-day engagement is hard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover unpaid salary without a written contract?
Yes, that is possible. A verbal agreement is still an agreement. The difficulty is proof, not law. Section 70 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 also helps where one person has enjoyed the benefit of another's work without paying for it. What you need is a trail — chats, roster, witnesses, timestamps.
How long do I have to file a case for unpaid salary?
Three years from the date the work was done or the payment fell due, for a civil recovery suit. Under the Payment of Wages Act the window is shorter, generally twelve months from the date the wages fell due, and extensions are discretionary. If you are past twelve months, you may still have the civil suit, but you should get the dates checked before anything is filed.
Is a WhatsApp message enough proof of the salary agreed?
Often it is the best proof available. If the employer confirmed the rate in writing and later denied it in the same thread, that contradiction is your strongest document. It needs to be produced properly, with a certificate under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, and the phone should not be wiped.
Do I get notice pay or severance for fifteen days of work?
Generally no. Retrenchment compensation and notice pay under the industrial law framework attach to continuous service, commonly understood as 240 days in a twelve-month period. Fifteen days does not reach that. If a state Shops and Establishments Act or a contract provides a notice period, the position can differ, and that needs checking against the specific state rule.
Does disclosing ADHD help or hurt my case?
On these facts it is unlikely to help or hurt the money claim; the claim stands on the work done, not the medical disclosure. Where it becomes relevant is on the timing — a condition disclosed on day one that only becomes a "problem" the week after a pay demand is a pattern worth documenting in the demand notice. Whether it gives you a separate remedy under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 depends on whether the condition falls within the disabilities notified under that Act, and on whether the establishment is covered by it. That is a question for your own facts, and I would not answer it blind.
What to Send the Chamber
If you are in this position, write in with three things: the demand notice or the last written communication with the employer and its date, a printout of the chat in which the pay was agreed, and a two-line note saying how many days you worked and what you are owed. That is enough to tell you whether you have an arguable claim, which forum fits, and whether the money is worth the cost of running it. Sometimes the honest answer is that the amount does not justify a suit, and you should hear that early rather than after a year of hearings.
You can reach the chamber through /contact-us or book a slot at /book. Chamber No. 86, Lawyers' Chamber, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi 110001. Phone +91 97295 06771. Email me@sudhirrao.com.
This article is general information about Indian law and is not legal advice on your own situation. Every claim turns on its own documents and dates.
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India