backpay

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A form of back pay — A withheld payment for work which has already been completed, or which could have been completed had the employee not been prevented from doing so.

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Meanings

nounbackpay (countable and uncountable, plural backpays)

plural backpays

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of back pay.

    Retaliation against organizing unions is illegal under US federal law, and complaints with the NLRB can lead to fired workers being reinstated with backpay, Bloomberg notes.

    2023 February 16, Jon Porter, “Tesla fired dozens of Gigafactory workers after Tuesday’s union announcement: NLRB complaint”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2023
    1 more example

    It says the offer amounts to an increase of 14.4% for the lowest-paid grades to 9.2% for the highest paid. There is an additional 1.1% on basic earnings and increased backpay. […] The increased backpay will be implemented and paid as a lump sum […].

    2023 March 22, Mel Holley, “Network News: RMT to ballot Network Rail members on improved offer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 12

Origin

From back- + pay.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

payback
Cite this entry
APA

backpay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpay

MLA

“backpay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpay. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backpay,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpay.

Source: backpay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.