A payslip is the written, itemised pay statement your employer must give you on or before each payday. Under section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, it must show your gross pay, every deduction and its purpose, your net pay, how each part was paid if it was split, and the hours worked where your pay varies with time. The right applies to all workers, not just employees, and payslips can be on paper or electronic. If you do not get one, or it is missing required details, you can apply to an employment tribunal. If your employment ended on or after 1 October 2026, the time limit for an application is six months from the end date.
Who is entitled to a payslip
Since 6 April 2019 the right to an itemised pay statement has extended to everyone with "worker" status, which can include many casual and zero-hours staff as well as employees. Genuinely self-employed contractors and freelancers are not entitled to payslips, because they invoice for their work. GOV.UK also lists a few excluded groups: members of the police service, merchant seafarers, and share fishermen paid by a share of a vessel's profits.
Employers can choose to provide payslips on paper or electronically, for example through an online portal. Either way, the payslip must be available at or before the time of payment.
What must be on a payslip
- Gross pay. The total wages or salary before any deductions;
- Variable deductions. Each deduction that can change from one pay period to the next, such as income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and student loan repayments, with the amount and purpose of each;
- Fixed deductions. These must be itemised unless the employer uses a standing statement (see below);
- Net pay. What you actually receive;
- Method of payment. If your net pay is split, for example partly by bank transfer and partly in cash, the amount paid each way;
- Hours. If your pay varies according to time worked, the total hours worked for that variable pay, shown either as one figure or broken down by type of work or rate of pay.
The law does not require your tax code, National Insurance number or year-to-date totals to appear on a payslip, although nearly every payroll system shows them. They are worth checking each time, because a wrong tax code is the most common reason for unexpected deductions.
The standing statement of fixed deductions
Section 9 allows an employer to show fixed deductions as a single total on the payslip, provided it has given you a separate written standing statement. That statement must list the amount of each deduction, how often it is made and what it is for. It must be given at or before the first payslip that relies on it, and it lapses after 12 months unless it is reissued in a consolidated form. A typical example is the repayment of a season ticket loan. Changes can be notified in writing between annual reissues.
Worked example: reading a monthly payslip in 2026/27
Priya earns £36,000 a year, paid monthly, in England. She has tax code 1257L, National Insurance category A, and pays the auto-enrolment minimum of 5% into a net pay pension scheme on earnings above the qualifying earnings threshold.
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £36,000 ÷ 12 | £3,000.00 |
| Pension (5%) | (£3,000 − £520) × 5% | −£124.00 |
| Income tax | (£3,000 − £124 − £1,048 tax-free) × 20% | −£365.60 |
| National Insurance | (£3,000 − £1,048 primary threshold) × 8% | −£156.16 |
| Net pay | £2,354.24 |
Three points stand out. First, under a net pay arrangement the pension comes off before tax, so Priya gets tax relief straight away, but not before National Insurance. Second, the monthly personal allowance (£12,570 a year) and the primary threshold are both about £1,048 a month. Third, payroll software applies HMRC's tables, so actual figures can differ by a few pence. Employer National Insurance at 15% is a cost to the employer and does not appear as a deduction from Priya's pay.
The 2026/27 figures used here are a basic rate of 20% up to £37,700 of taxable income, employee National Insurance of 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 a year and 2% above that, and auto-enrolment qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270.
Common payslip problems and what to do
- No payslip at all. Ask in writing first. If that fails, you can refer the matter to an employment tribunal;
- Deductions not explained. If a tribunal finds that deductions were not itemised as required, it can order the employer to repay the unnotified deductions made in the 13 weeks before your application, even if the deductions were otherwise allowed by your contract;
- Wrong tax code or emergency code. Check the code against your HMRC personal tax account. HMRC, not the employer, sets the code;
- Hours missing. If you are paid hourly or by shift, the hours must appear on the payslip. This is also how you check that your pay meets the National Minimum Wage;
- Time limits. If your employment has ended, a tribunal reference must normally be made within six months of the end date. The Employment Rights Act 2025 extended this from three months with effect from 1 October 2026, but only where the employment ended on or after that date. If it ended earlier, the old three-month limit still applies.
Keep your payslips. They are your evidence of earnings for mortgage and rental applications, for checking your end-of-year P60, and for supporting any tax refund claim.
Sources: Employment Rights Act 1996, section 8, section 9, section 11 and section 12, GOV.UK: payslips, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, Finance Act 2026, section 2, Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, section 8 and Pensions Act 2008, section 13. See also our guides to tax codes, the P60 and National Insurance rates.
If you run a payroll and want payslips that are compliant and correct every period, our outsourced payroll and payroll management services can take it on.