With effect from 6 April 2019, employers will have to change how they provide payslips.
First, they must give an itemised payslip to every worker, not just to employees. This can be printed or emailed.
Second, where pay varies according to time worked, the payslip will have to show the hours worked as well as the amount due. For example, if you have earned a fixed salary plus variable overtime, your payslip must show the breakdown.
Note that this requirement doesn’t apply if you’re on a fixed salary and you take unpaid leave or you’re receiving statutory sick pay. It does, however, apply if you’re paid according to the hours you work, and you take unpaid leave or you’re receiving statutory sick pay.
Are you a worker?
A few people still won’t be entitled to receive a payslip, including anyone in the armed forces and merchant seamen / women.
To find out if you are a worker, call
What this means to you
The change is all to do with you being correctly notified about your pay.
If your employer doesn’t follow the new rules, you can make a claim at the employment tribunal, and might be able to recover all the tax and National Insurance payments that were taken in the preceding 13 weeks – even if those amounts were deducted correctly.
Example 1
You are contracted to work 40 hours per week for a salary of £20,000 per year. You don’t do overtime. Because your pay doesn’t vary according to hours worked, your payslip doesn’t have to show a breakdown.
Example 2
You are contracted to work 40 hours per week for a salary of £30,000 per year. You usually work Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. You get paid at an overtime rate whenever you have to stay late or come in on a Saturday. Your payslip doesn’t have to show your standard hours, but it will have to show the extra hours you’ve worked.
Example 3
You are paid weekly at National Minimum Wage for every hour you work. Your payslip should include a breakdown showing all your hours each week.
Example 4
You are paid weekly at an hourly rate, according to the number of hours you’ve worked. For bank holidays, you are paid at 1.5 times the normal rate. Your payslip must show all the hours you’ve worked, but it doesn’t matter if it’s shown as a total or broken down by the different pay rates.
Example 5
You are paid monthly in equal instalments. Even though you only work during school term time, your hours don’t have to be shown on your payslip.
Example 6
You are paid a day rate no matter how many hours you work each day. In this case, your hours do need to be included on your payslip, even though you’re paid by the day.
Example 7
You work full-time for an annual salary, paid in equal monthly instalments. You choose to take 10 days’ unpaid leave on top of your usual holiday entitlement. Your employer will deduct ten days from your pay – but the payslip doesn’t have to show the hours you’ve actually worked.
Example 8
You are paid monthly according to the hours you work, but one month you have to take 10 days off sick. You are entitled to receive statutory sick pay for those 10 days. Your payslip must show the hours you worked that month.
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