Employment Rights Act 1996, section 34

Complaints to employment tribunals

Part III Guarantee payments

(1)An employee may present a complaint to an [F146employment tribunalF146] that his employer has failed to pay the whole or any part of a guarantee payment to which the employee is entitled.

(2)An [F146employment tribunalF146] shall not consider a complaint relating to a guarantee payment in respect of any day unless the complaint is presented to the tribunal—

(a)before the end of the period of [F147sixF147] months beginning with that day, or

(b)within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable in a case where it is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period of [F148sixF148] months.

[F149 (2A)Section 207B (extension of time limits to facilitate conciliation before institution of proceedings) applies for the purposes of subsection (2)(a).F149]

(3)Where an [F146employment tribunalF146] finds a complaint under this section well-founded, the tribunal shall order the employer to pay to the employee the amount of guarantee payment which it finds is due to him.

Definitions used in section 34 5

employee

(1) In this Act “employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment.

Defined in s.230(1) · see it in the full Act
employment

(5) In this Act “employment”—

(a)in relation to an employee, means (except for the purposes of section 171) employment under a contract of employment, and

(b)in relation to a worker, means employment under his contract;

Defined in s.230(5) · see it in the full Act

(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.

Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act
employer

(4) In this Act “employer”, in relation to an employee or a worker, means the person by whom the employee or worker is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed.

Defined in s.230(4) · see it in the full Act

(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.

Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act
guarantee payment

“guarantee payment” has the meaning given by section 28,

Defined in s.235(1) · see it in the full Act
day

(4) In this Part “day” means the period of twenty-four hours from midnight to midnight.

Defined in s.28(4) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 34 3

Abercrombie & Ors v AGA Rangemaster Ltd

[2013] EWCA Civ 1148 · 11 October 2013

Section 34 provided a jurisdiction-specific route for enforcing the same guarantee-payment right. The employees were permitted to substitute this route for section 23, although recovery in the 2009 proceedings remained subject to its three-month limitation rule (see paras [47]-[57]).

2 more judgments, and what each says about section 34, are in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

4 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F146Words in s. 34(1)(2)(3) and sidenote to s. 34 substituted (1.8.1998) by 1998 c. 8, s. 1(2)(a)(b) (with s. 16(2)); S.I. 1998/1658, art. 2(1), Sch. 1
  2. F147Word in s. 34(2)(a) substituted (1.10.2026) by Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36), s. 159(3), Sch. 12 para. 4(5)(a); S.I. 2026/954, reg. 3 (with reg. 4)
  3. F148Word in s. 34(2)(b) substituted (1.10.2026) by Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36), s. 159(3), Sch. 12 para. 4(5)(b); S.I. 2026/954, reg. 3 (with reg. 4)
  4. F149S. 34(2A) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Cross-Border Mediation (EU Directive) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/469), reg. 1(1), Sch. 1 para. 12(4) (with reg. 5) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1493, regs. 1(1), 4(5)(6)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)