A salary shortfall is easier to resolve when the claim starts with a pay-period calculation rather than a folder of unsorted screenshots. A salary-related TADM claim has different outer deadlines depending on employment status: while still employed, file within one year after the dispute arose; after leaving, file within six months of the last day. The claim period itself generally reaches only one year back from filing, and online filing is not complete until the fee is paid within three days.
For an employee with unpaid salary, overtime or notice pay, the immediate job is to calculate the correct TADM filing deadline and preserve a documentary claim without confusing it with wrongful dismissal.
Which compliance path applies?
You remain employed
Use the first owed-salary date and file within one year.
You have left employment
File within six months of the last day and test the one-year lookback.
You dispute the dismissal itself
Check the separate wrongful-dismissal route and one-month deadline.
Employer is in liquidation or judicial management
Use the insolvency route identified by TADM, not the ordinary claim form.
A salary claim becomes easier to assess when the worker builds a pay-period table before filing. Each row should show contractual salary, hours or days, allowances, authorised deductions, amount received and shortfall. Attach the source for each number instead of submitting an unsorted chat export.
The filing window depends on whether employment has ended, so the last day of work is a critical fact. Record it alongside the date the shortfall first arose and any later payment. A worker should not wait for informal promises until the applicable claim window becomes the problem.
Classify the claim
Unpaid salary, overtime, commission and notice pay may depend on contract and statutory coverage. The controlling details used here are on TADM employee mediation filing service.
Write each component, legal or contractual basis and amount on a separate row.
Plot three dates
The first unpaid amount, last employment day and proposed filing date can produce different limits.
Use a calendar and do not rely on a verbal promise to pause time.
Build a month-by-month schedule
A single total is difficult to mediate without hours, rates and payments.
Show gross entitlement, paid amount and shortfall for each pay period.
Preserve primary evidence
Contracts, key employment terms, payslips, attendance, CPF records and messages can corroborate the schedule.
Download records before access to work systems ends.
Keep salary and dismissal theories separate
A notice-pay claim is not automatically a wrongful-dismissal allegation. The related condition is explained in TADM mediation guide.
State whether the termination reason itself is disputed and check both clocks if necessary.
Complete payment
TADM says the filing fee must be paid within three days or the claim is purged.
Save both submission and payment acknowledgements.
Prepare for mediation
A concise chronology and indexed documents make disputed facts easier to test.
Bring the calculation file, originals and a realistic settlement range.
How the case works in practice
An employee who left on 1 February should not assume every older unpaid month remains recoverable until 1 August. Filing must be within six months of departure, while the claim period generally reaches only one year back from the actual filing date.
Two controls that make the filing reproducible
- a three-clock filing calendar for dispute date, last day and one-year lookback
- a month-by-month wage shortfall schedule tied to primary evidence
Test the plan under real conditions
Calculate the claim in the units used by the employment terms. If the agreement specifies a monthly basic salary, do not silently convert it to an hourly figure without showing the method. For overtime or work on rest days, separate the hours, applicable rate and supporting roster. For a disputed deduction, state the employer’s explanation, the worker’s position and the document that could resolve it.
A bank statement should be reduced to relevant credits rather than submitted as an unlabelled full history where possible. Match each credit to the payslip and explain cash payments separately. If a payslip says one amount and the bank shows another, do not choose the higher or lower figure by instinct. Put both in the table and calculate the unexplained difference.
The claim narrative can then be short: employment period, pay arrangement, when the shortfall began, attempts to resolve it and amount sought by component. This is more persuasive than repeating every message. Keep proof of filing and attend to any request for further documents, because a well-prepared initial file can still stall if later directions are missed.
One more check before acting
If the worker remains employed, the evidence plan should protect the working relationship and access to records. Download payslips and rosters through authorised channels without taking confidential information unrelated to the claim. Keep communications factual and avoid secretly altering employer systems or shared documents. If employment has ended, record the final salary payment, leave treatment and returned property separately. TADM can assess the employment claim, while allegations involving threats, safety or other offences may require a different authority; do not fold every workplace dispute into the salary arithmetic.
Evidence quality matters more than volume. Employment terms, itemised payslips, bank credits, rosters and written explanations should be arranged by pay period. Contradictory records should be flagged, not hidden, with a note explaining which source is believed to be correct and why.
Before mediation, state the remedy sought and the arithmetic behind it. Separate salary, overtime, allowances and deductions rather than presenting one unexplained total. That gives the employer and mediator a concrete set of differences to resolve.
The last practical check
- Classify every claim component
- Mark the first owed-salary date
- Mark the last employment day
- Build the one-year lookback
- Download payroll and attendance evidence
- File and pay within three days
- Prepare an indexed mediation bundle
Claim eligibility, jurisdiction and evidence depend on the Employment Claims Act, contract and facts. Obtain legal advice where needed.
Continue the task on LBRD
For an adjacent decision, check the underlying salary payment due dates. You can also separate a possible wrongful-dismissal claim.
