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back pay

British  

noun

  1. pay received by an employee from an increase awarded retrospectively

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

President Donald Trump ordered the department to find funds to compensate essential workers required to stay on the job, allowing some back pay to be issued in recent weeks.

From Barron's Apr. 10, 2026

Some waits were still long on Sunday as a busy spring-break season collides with TSA workers waiting for back pay from the shutdown.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 30, 2026

If companies can show they are trying to correct a violation, by giving back pay to workers and agreeing to change the offending practices, the law keeps penalties low.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 26, 2026

Even after funding resumes, workers may wait weeks for back pay, which means that callouts and resignations won’t disappear overnight.

From Slate Mar. 26, 2026

His mom had finally bought him one last Christmas with some of the back pay she’d received after convincing some doctor that, seriously, she had a repetitive strain injury.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

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