How to read your payslip

Your payslip shows how your employer got from your agreed pay to the amount paid into your bank account. Every employer’s layout is different, but the information is broadly the same. This guide explains each part, using a £36,000 salary paid monthly as an example, and tells you what to check.

Your right to a payslip

Employees and workers have a legal right to an itemised payslip, on or before the day they’re paid. It can be on paper or electronic. GOV.UK’s page on payslips sets out what it must include: your pay before deductions, the amount and purpose of each deduction, and your pay after deductions. If your pay varies with the hours you work, it must also show the hours paid.

The top of your payslip

The header usually includes:

• Your name, employee or payroll number and National Insurance number. Check your NI number is right: it’s how your contributions are recorded towards your State Pension.
• Pay date and pay period. For monthly pay, the period is often shown as a tax month, from month 1 (April) to month 12 (March).
• Tax code. This tells your employer how much tax-free pay to give you. Most people have 1257L. Our guide to tax codes explains what the letters and numbers mean.
• NI category letter. Most employees are on A. Others include M for under-21s and C for people over State Pension age.

Payments

This section lists everything you’re paid before deductions:

• Basic pay: your salary for the period. On £36,000 a year paid monthly, that’s £3,000.00.
• Overtime, shift allowances, commission or bonuses, each on its own line.
• Statutory payments, such as Statutory Sick Pay or Statutory Maternity Pay.
• Salary sacrifice, sometimes shown as a negative payment, which reduces your pay before tax.

Gross pay is the total of all of these.

Deductions

This section shows what’s taken off your gross pay:

• Income tax (PAYE): on £36,000, about £390.50 a month with the standard code. It’s worked out on your total pay so far in the tax year, which is why it can change if your code changes. See how income tax works.
• National Insurance: about £156.20 a month on £36,000. It’s worked out on each period’s pay alone. See our National Insurance guide.
• Pension contributions: depending on your scheme, these may be taken before tax (net pay), after tax (relief at source), or shown as a salary sacrifice.
• Student loan repayments: often shown with the plan type, for example “SL Plan 2”. See our student loan guide.
• Other deductions, such as trade union subscriptions, give-as-you-earn charity donations, season ticket loans, or payments for benefits like cycle-to-work schemes.

Net pay

Net pay is what’s left after all deductions, and it’s the amount paid into your bank account. On a £36,000 salary with no pension or student loan, it’s about £2,453.30 a month. Our take-home pay calculator shows the same breakdown for your own salary, so you can compare it line by line with your payslip.

Year-to-date figures

Most payslips show year-to-date (YTD) totals since 6 April for gross pay, taxable pay, income tax, NI and pension. These are useful for checking:

• Taxable pay YTD should equal your gross pay so far, minus pension contributions taken before tax and any salary sacrifice.
• Tax YTD is what PAYE uses to work out each month’s tax. If your tax code changes, the next payslip may show a refund or extra tax to bring the total into line.
• At the end of the tax year, your final YTD figures should match your P60. Our guide to P60, P45 and P11D forms explains these documents.

Employer contributions

Some payslips also show what your employer pays on top of your salary, such as employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance. On £36,000, your employer pays about £4,650 a year of NI. These aren’t deducted from your pay, but they’re part of the cost of employing you.

What to check every month

1. Your tax code hasn’t changed unexpectedly. If it has, check your HMRC letter or online account.
2. Your gross pay is right for the hours or days worked, including any overtime or allowances.
3. Your pension contribution matches what you agreed, as a percentage or a fixed amount.
4. Your student loan plan is the right one.
5. Your net pay is close to what our calculator predicts. Small differences are normal, because payroll rounds figures and uses tax tables, but a big difference is worth asking about.

If something looks wrong, ask your payroll or HR team first. For tax code problems, update your details with HMRC using its Check your Income Tax service.

Payslips for hourly and part-time work

If you’re paid by the hour, your payslip should show the hours you’re being paid for. Check them against your timesheet, and make sure your hourly rate is at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for your age. The pro-rata salary calculator helps if you work part-time on a salary. For a bonus month, the bonus tax calculator shows what your payslip is likely to look like.

Keeping your payslips

Keep your payslips, or download them regularly if they’re online. You may need them to apply for a mortgage or loan, to check a tax refund, or to claim benefits. Your P60 summarises the year, but payslips show the detail month by month. To work backwards from a target take-home figure to the salary you’d need, use the reverse salary calculator.