← Know Your Rights
Employment
Wages and deductions
Understanding what can legally be taken out of your pay, and what cannot.
What it means
- Your contract should state your salary clearly, along with any legitimate deductions such as tax or agreed housing costs.
- Wage theft happens when you are paid less than promised, paid late, or not paid at all.
- Excessive or undisclosed deductions can be used to keep a worker in ongoing debt to an employer or recruiter.
Warning signs
- Pay is consistently late or short, with vague explanations.
- Deductions appear on your payslip that were never explained in the contract.
- You are told your 'real' pay will start after an unpaid training or probation period much longer than agreed.
- You have no payslip or written record of what you have been paid.
What to do
- Keep your own record of hours worked and payments received, including dates and amounts.
- Ask for a payslip every pay period, even if it is not automatically offered.
- Compare actual pay against the contract regularly, not just once.
- Photograph or copy any pay records before they can be taken from you.
Where to seek help
- A local labor rights office or worker's organization in the destination country.
- A wage-theft or labor law clinic, where available.
- Your embassy or consulate, which may track wage complaint patterns for a given employer.
This is general information, not country-specific legal advice. Local hotlines, embassy contacts, and vetted referral partners will appear here as SafePath expands into each region.