Making a Complaint

How do I file a complaint?

Your address, postal code, phone number, social insurance number.

The date you started and ended work (if you’re no longer employed).

Your wage rate, and daily and weekly regular hours of work.

A pay stub or statement of earnings if available.

Details about your claim.

Is there a time limit?

If your complaint is about unpaid wages, you must file it within one year. Labour Standards can only recover wages that should have been paid to you during the year before you filed your complaint or the last year you worked for the employer.

What happens after I file my complaint?

A Labour Standards Officer will review it and might call you for more information. Your boss will also be contacted. The officer will determine whether or not an investigation is necessary.

What if it’s determined that my boss owes me wages?

The officer will try to get the employer to pay up. The employer might offer to settle your claim by paying less, and you will have to decide whether to accept. If the problem isn’t solved at this point, the Director of Labour Standards may issue a "Wage Assessment" setting out the amount of wages owed.

Either you or your employer can appeal a Wage Assessment in writing within 21 days of receiving it. The letter should be sent by registered or certified mail to:
Registrar of Appeals
Department of Labour
3rd Floor, 1870 Albert Street
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 3V7

An adjudicator will conduct a formal hearing and then make a decision on any wages owing. The adjudicator’s decision can also be appealed to the Court of Queen’s Bench and the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, but only on questions of law or jurisdiction. You’ll likely need a lawyer if it gets this far.

If your boss won’t pay the wages the department says you’re owed, then it will issue a certificate and file it in the Court of Queen’s Bench. It then becomes a court judgment.

Last Updated: 04.01.07