Payslips

Employers in the Nottinghamshire area should be aware of the legal requirements concerning payslips – here is the Page Kirk LLP guide to the essentials…

Most employees receive payslips and take them for granted, but what are the legal requirements?

All workers, including those working part-time and temporarily, are entitled to receive a written payslip on or before their pay day. A worker is anyone who personally performs work or services to an organisation, under an employment contract or any other type of contract. The Employment Rights Act (ERA) sets out the required contents of a payslip:

Gross pay
Amounts and purpose of variable and fixed deductions
Net pay
Method of payment (where different amounts are paid in different ways)

In practice, most employers give much more information than the basic statutory requirements. For instance, it is obviously good practice to analyse gross pay to show:

Basic pay
Number of hours worked and rate paid (if worker works variable hours or overtime)
Bonus, commission, etc.
Special allowances
Sick pay (including Statutory Sick Pay)
Parental pay (including Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay)
Holiday pay
Employer's and employee's pension contributions

It is also usual to show the period covered by the payment, and the date of payment.

You can significantly reduce queries from employees by giving basic details such as: