DELAYED WAGE PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING NATIONS: AN ETHICAL, MANAGERIAL, AND SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS

This paper offers a critical examination of delayed wage practices in developing nations, where salaries are often paid weeks or months after work is completed. While sometimes framed as employee retention strategies, such delays violate labour rights, strain livelihoods, and disrupt economic stability. Drawing on organizational ethics, human rights principles, and development economics, the study contrasts these practices with timely remuneration models in developed economies such as the United Kingdom. Using international labour standards, including ILO Convention No. 95, and empirical research, the analysis highlights the ethical breaches, managerial shortcomings, and socioeconomic costs of delayed payments. The paper concludes with actionable recommendations for policy reform, ethical human resource management, and global advocacy to ensure timely remuneration and strengthen sustainable development.