Pay

This leaflet tells you about an employee or worker’s rights to be paid in their job, how much they should be getting and how to enforce these rights.

Who is entitled to pay?

Anyone working under a contract of employment will be entitled to pay. If you are working under a contract where you are not being paid, then you are probably doing voluntary work and may not have any or the same rights as an employee or a worker. Self employed individuals usually receive ‘fees’ and it is usually employees who receive pay.

How much should I get paid?

Under the national Minimum Wages Act 1998 the law requires that all employees and workers should receive a basic hourly rate of pay. The minimum wage is reviewed most years and usually goes up in October. For further information about the national Minimum Wage, see www.tiger.gov.uk and www.acas.gov.uk.

However, an employer is entitled to pay higher wages or any amount of wages or salary agreed between the parties in the contract. An employer cannot however pay below the National Minimum Wage.

How do I work out my pay?

If you need to calculate your hourly rate under the national Minimum Wage then you need to deduct any money in relation to overtime or commission. The hourly rate will include your basic pay before tax and national insurance is deducted. You then need to calculate your pay be reference “pay period” which may be weekly or monthly. If you are paid less than the national minimum wage then your employer will owe you the difference between that and what you are actually getting under your employment contract. The employer must also show you records to prove your hourly rate of pay.

Payslips

All employees are entitled to be given an “itemised payslip”. This is a payslip which should show how much you are being paid before and after deductions (tax and national insurance). If your employer does not provide you with this information then you can put in a claim to an employment tribunal and ask the Tribunal to declare what information should have been provided on your payslip. If deductions have been made without you being notified (e.g. for tax) then by way of compensation the Tribunal can order the employer to pay you the equivalent sum.

Is my employer allowed to deduct my pay?

If an employer deducts pay from the employee without their consent, this will be known as “unlawful deduction of wages”. This will also be a breach of contract (see leaflet on Contacts). There are some circumstances where an employer is allowed to deduct pay. This will be where the employee has agreed to it in advance in writing, for example to allow for where the employer makes a genuine mistake in overpaying the employee’s wages. You should therefore carefully check through all the terms in a contract to see if there is one about agreeing to deductions.

What should I get when I leave a job?

At the end of a job, all employees are entitled to be paid for all the days that they have worked for the employer. In addition they are entitled to be paid notice pay if they have not been allowed to work out their notice. (See leaflet ‘Lost Your Job? ‘). In addition, if you have not taken all the holidays due to you in your holiday period (which will either be worked out from the anniversary from when you first started or from another date explained to you by your employer) then you can get outstanding holiday pay instead.

For further information about enforcing your rights, see www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk