Your UK employee wants a payslip. What has to be on it?
It's often the first awkward email after a UK hire starts. The finance team abroad has paid the salary, and the new employee writes back asking where their payslip is. In the UK that isn't a courtesy. GOV.UK says it plainly: you must give your employees and your workers a payslip on or before their payday. Here's what has to be on it, what's optional, and the questions we get asked by employers based outside the UK.
The short version. Four things are compulsory: pay before deductions, the deductions themselves, pay after deductions, and the hours worked where pay depends on time. Fixed deductions have to be explained as well, on the payslip or in a separate statement. Everything else is optional, and the payslip can be printed or electronic.
Who is owed one
Every employee and every worker, with a short list of exceptions that GOV.UK names: people who aren't employees or workers at all, such as contractors and freelancers, the police service, merchant seamen, and crew in share fishing who are paid a share of the vessel's profits or gross earnings. Where the employer is based isn't on that list. If the person you've hired in the UK is your employee, a payslip is due every time they're paid.
Not sure which side of that line your hire sits on? That's a bigger question than the payslip, and it's worth settling first. Our guide to contractor versus employee walks through it.
The four things it must show
| Must show | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| Pay before any deductions, the gross figure | Everything earned in the pay period before tax or anything else comes off. |
| Deductions that can change each time they're paid | GOV.UK's examples are tax and National Insurance. Each one shown with its amount, not folded into a single total. |
| Pay after deductions, the net figure | What actually reaches the employee's bank account. |
| The number of hours worked, if pay varies depending on time worked | The rule for hourly and other time based pay, where the hours change the amount. |
A single net figure in an email, however friendly, covers one of the four. It isn't a payslip.
Fixed deductions need their own explanation
Some deductions are the same every month. GOV.UK's example is repaying a season ticket loan. The employer has to explain deductions that are fixed in amount, and can do it in one of two ways: on every payslip, or in a separate written statement.
If you use the separate statement, GOV.UK says it must go out before the first payslip, and it has to be updated every year. It's the part that tends to be forgotten, so put the annual update in the same diary as the rest of your UK year end.
Optional, but we'd include it
GOV.UK lists things a payslip can also include: the employee's National Insurance number, their tax code, their rate of pay, and the total pay and deductions so far in the tax year. None of them is compulsory. We'd put them all on, for a practical reason. GOV.UK points out that payslips can be used as proof of earnings, tax paid and pension contributions, and a UK employee will lean on them for exactly that, from checking their tax code to applying for a mortgage. If the codes on the page look like alphabet soup, our payslip abbreviations guide reads one line by line.
The questions employers abroad ask us
Can it be electronic?
Yes. GOV.UK says employers can choose printed or electronic payslips.
When does it have to arrive?
On or before payday. Not with next month's run, and not once the year end comes round.
Who produces it?
Payroll software can, and GOV.UK notes you can use different software if yours doesn't. If a provider runs the payroll for you, they'll normally produce it. The duty still sits with the employer: GOV.UK puts it as your employer must provide you with a payslip.
Is the payslip what HMRC see?
No. The payslip is for the employee. HMRC receive the pay and deduction figures separately, through real time reporting. Our guide to RTI, the FPS and the EPS covers that side.
An illustration
A tile maker based in Porto takes on a part time showroom assistant in Bath, paid by the hour, with hours that change from week to week. The assistant has also asked for help with a rail season ticket, repaid at the same amount each month. At the end of month one the Porto finance team sends a short email with the net amount and nothing else.
That email shows one of the four compulsory items, the net pay. The gross pay, the tax and National Insurance and the hours worked are all missing. The season ticket repayment needed explaining too, and because nobody sent a separate statement before the first payslip, it has to go on the payslip itself. The fix is a proper payslip from month two, with the tax code and the year to date totals added, so the assistant can check their own tax without writing to Porto every time.
Would you rather the payslips just turned up right?
We run UK payroll for employers based abroad, and for their UK staff. Prices are fixed and published.
See how our payroll worksCommon questions
Does a UK employee get a payslip if the employer is based abroad?
Yes. GOV.UK's exceptions are people who are not employees or workers, the police service, merchant seamen and share fishermen. Where the employer is based is not on that list.
Does a UK payslip have to show hours worked?
Where pay varies depending on time worked, yes. Hourly pay with hours that change from week to week is the common case.
Can payslips be sent electronically?
Yes. GOV.UK says employers can choose printed or electronic payslips. Either way it has to reach the employee on or before payday.
Read next
- UK payslip abbreviations explained
- The UK payroll guide for employers
- Employing UK staff from overseas
- RTI, the FPS and the EPS explained
- First UK hire: a founder's payroll checklist
General information for employers about UK payslips, not legal or tax advice. It reflects GOV.UK guidance as at October 2026, which can change. Please check the position for your own business before acting.