If you’re in employment your employer must make your payslip available to you either on or before the day you’re getting paid, but do you know how your pay is worked out? Here’s what to look out for on your payslip.
Payroll number: a unique sequence of numbers and letters used to identify individuals on the payroll.
Tax code: used by your employer to identify how much Income Tax to take from your pay.
National insurance number: used to ensure your National Insurance contributions and tax are recorded against your name only. You must have an NI number to work in the UK, and this number will remain the same throughout your life.
Payments: what you earn before any deductions are made.
Expenses: any expenses that are owed to you, for example, travels costs.
Deductions: fixed deductions include tax and National Insurance. Any pension contribution or student loan repayment also fall into this category.
Gross pay: what you earn before deductions have been taken off.
Net pay: what you will see in your bank account, with all deductions accounted for.
