Right to itemised payslip

Your right to a payslip

Yes. Under section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, if you are a worker you have the right to be given a written itemised pay statement (a payslip) at or before the time your wages or salary are paid. This right applies to employees and to the wider category of “workers”, which includes many casual, agency and zero-hours staff, but generally not the genuinely self-employed. Since April 2019 the right has covered all workers, not just employees, and payslips can be provided electronically as well as on paper.

What the payslip must contain

By law the payslip must set out:

1. The gross amount of your wages or salary.

2. The amounts of any variable deductions and the purpose for which they are made (for example tax and National Insurance can vary each period).

3. The amounts of any fixed deductions and the purpose for which they are made, unless the employer instead gives you a separate standing statement of fixed deductions (updated at least annually) and the payslip refers to the total of those fixed deductions.

4. The net amount of wages or salary payable.

5. Where different parts of the net amount are paid in different ways (for example partly by cheque and partly by bank transfer), the amount and method of each part-payment.

Since 6 April 2019 there is an additional requirement: where your pay varies according to the amount of time worked, the payslip must also show the number of hours being paid for. This can be shown either as a single total or broken down by different rates or types of work.

If your payslip is missing or wrong

Start with the least confrontational and quickest route.

1. Raise it informally. Speak to your manager, the payroll team or your employer as soon as you notice a missing or incorrect payslip. Many problems are simple administrative or system errors and are corrected in the next pay run. Do this in writing (email) so you have a record of when you raised it and what response you got.

2. Put a clear written request or grievance in if it is not resolved. Set out what is missing or wrong, the pay periods affected, and what you want done. Keep copies of payslips, your contract, bank statements showing what was actually paid, and any correspondence.

3. Distinguish two different problems, because the remedies differ. A missing or defective payslip is a documentation issue dealt with under sections 8 to 12 of the Employment Rights Act. Being underpaid, or having money deducted that should not have been, is a separate wages issue (an unlawful deduction from wages under Part II of the same Act). A payslip can be technically correct yet you can still have been underpaid, and vice versa, so identify which you are dealing with.

Tribunal remedy for a missing or defective payslip

Under sections 11 and 12 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 you can apply to an employment tribunal for a determination of what particulars your payslip should have contained, either where no payslip is given or where the one given does not comply with section 8.

If the tribunal finds that no payslip was provided, or that a payslip did not include the required particulars about deductions, it can make a declaration to that effect. Crucially, if the tribunal further finds that in the preceding 13 weeks the employer made unnotified deductions (deductions not properly itemised), it has the power to order the employer to repay you those unnotified deductions, up to the aggregate made in that period. This can apply even where the deductions were themselves lawful, purely because they were not properly notified on a payslip. This is a distinct and sometimes overlooked remedy.

A section 11 reference can generally be made while you are still employed and up to three months after employment ends.

If the real issue is underpayment or wrong deductions

If money is actually missing from your pay, the primary route is an unlawful deduction from wages claim in the employment tribunal. An employer may only make deductions where the law requires or allows it (such as tax and National Insurance), where your contract authorises it, or where you have given prior written consent. The strict time limit is normally three months less one day from the date of the deduction (or the last in a series of deductions), subject to a period of early conciliation.

Before bringing any tribunal claim you must first notify Acas and go through Early Conciliation, which is free and often resolves pay disputes without a hearing.

Practical points and missing facts

Whether you are a worker or genuinely self-employed affects the section 8 right, so clarify your true employment status rather than relying only on the label in any contract. It would also help to know whether the payslip is entirely absent, or present but omitting required detail (such as hours worked or the purpose of a deduction), and whether your actual pay was correct. If your net pay was right but the paperwork was defective, the practical value of a claim is mainly the section 12 repayment of any unnotified deductions and putting the record straight. If you have actually been underpaid, the wages claim is likely to be the more valuable route.

Suggested order of action

1. Gather evidence: payslips, contract, bank statements, and any pay records.

2. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager and give a short deadline to fix it.

3. If unresolved, submit a formal written grievance.

4. If still unresolved, contact Acas for Early Conciliation, keeping the three-month tribunal time limit firmly in mind.

5. Only then consider a tribunal claim, choosing between a section 11 reference (payslip particulars) and an unlawful deduction claim (missing money), or both.

Acting quickly matters because of the short tribunal time limits, so do not let informal chasing drift on so long that you lose the right to claim.