Pay slips and pay intervals

Every employee must be given, by their first pay date, an itemised pay statement listing gross wages, deductions and net wages (section 8, Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96)). If an employer fails to provide a statement, an employee can go to a tribunal to get it. As with all tribunal claims, there is now a fee and Acas Early Conciliation applies. For more information see Chapter 13.

If employees are currently paid in cash, this should remain as part of their contractual rights, and the usual rules for contract changes apply (see Chapter 3: Contract changes).

Employers must each year give every employee a certificate (P60) showing annual gross pay, take-home pay and total deductions.

The pay slip must record the reason for any deduction (Ridge v HM Land Registry [2014] UKEAT/0098/10/DM).

Fixed deductions from pay need not be itemised separately on each pay statement, as long as the total amount of fixed deductions is given and the employer has previously given the employee a statement detailing those deductions (section 9, ERA 96).