What is Back Pay?

Answer:
Back pay is a form of restitution for employees

who have been suspended, fired, or let go, and can prove that they were wronged or that the firing was unlawful. If the outcome is settled in favor of the employee, the employee might earn back pay. Back pay is the sum of all of the wages that the employee would have earned between the original separation from the employee's position to the final outcome.

One example of back pay is if an employee was fired and contested the termination, saying that it was unlawful. If the employee is able to prove that he was discriminated against or that proper protocol was not followed, he may be awarded back pay for all the time he would have spend working if he had not been fired. A worker who is suspended without pay during some kind of inquiry may also be awarded back pay if it turns out that there was no misbehavior on the part of the employee. An employer may be less likely to go ahead with an unlawful termination because of the knowledge that he may owe his employee back pay.