Work out your take-home pay
Income tax, National Insurance and net pay for any UK salary, 2026-27.
Since 6 April 2019, every worker in the UK, not only every employee, has had a statutory right to an itemised payslip on or before payday [8] [1]. GOV.UK confirms that employers can choose whether to provide printed or electronic payslips, and an employment tribunal can order an employer to repay unnotified deductions made in the 13 weeks before a claim when payslips fall short [1] [7].
Electronic payslips are therefore lawful, common and, for most employers, the default. They are also governed by the same rules as paper: the content, the timing and the worker's ability to read and keep the document all apply in full. A payslip that sits in a portal the worker cannot open does not meet the legal test.
This guide explains the legal basis for electronic payslips, what every payslip must show, how delivery and access should work, the data protection and record-keeping duties that come with digital pay documents, and how electronic P60s and P45s fit alongside them. It is written for employers, payroll administrators, and the accountants and bureaux that run payroll for them.
Key takeaways
- Employers can provide payslips in printed or electronic form, including as an email attachment or through an online system [1] [3].
- An electronic payslip must be in a format the worker can print, and must be provided at or before the time wages are paid [8] [4].
- Where a worker cannot access payslips online, Acas advises that the employer should provide them in a different format [3].
- Every payslip must show gross pay, deductions, net pay and, where pay varies by time worked, the hours paid for [4] [2].
- PAYE records must be kept for 3 years after the end of the tax year, and minimum wage records for at least 6 years [11] [16].
- Payslips are personal data, so UK GDPR security, retention and subject access rules apply to every electronic payslip system [14] [22].
The legal basis for electronic payslips
The right to a payslip comes from section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It gives a worker the right to be given by the employer, at or before the time any wages or salary are paid, a written itemised pay statement [4]. The Act does not prescribe paper, and government guidance has long confirmed that an electronic statement meets the requirement [8].
What the law says about format
GOV.UK states in plain terms that employers can choose whether they provide printed or electronic (online) payslips [1]. The employer guidance on running payroll repeats the point: an employer can either print payslips or send them electronically [2].
The government's guidance on the 2019 reforms adds the one condition that matters most for digital delivery. A payslip may be provided in a physical format or in an electronic format that the worker can print [8]. Acas lists the accepted forms as a paper document, an email attachment or an online system [3].
Who is entitled to a payslip
The right covers employees and workers. GOV.UK lists the limited exclusions: people who are not employees or workers, members of the police service, merchant seamen and share fishermen [1]. Acas summarises the position as employers having to give all employees and workers payslips from their first payday [3].
A worker, in this sense, is someone with a contract or arrangement to do work personally for a reward, with a limited right to subcontract [18]. That brings many zero-hours, casual and agency-style arrangements inside the right, which is why the 2019 extension made electronic delivery more attractive for employers with large casual workforces [8] [18].
The 2019 reforms
The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) Order 2018 came into force on 6 April 2019 [9]. It added a requirement to show hours where pay varies by reference to time worked, and the amendments apply only to pay for periods of work starting on or after that date [9] [8].
The government guidance itself notes that it has no legal effect on the interpretation of the law [8]. The statutory text in section 8 remains the reference point when a payslip design is in doubt [4].
What every electronic payslip must show
Electronic delivery changes nothing about content. The same mandatory items apply whether the payslip is a PDF, a portal page or a printed sheet.
Mandatory content
Section 8(2) of the Act requires the gross amount of wages or salary, the amounts and purposes of variable and fixed deductions, the net amount payable, and the amount and method of each part-payment where pay is split [4]. Since 6 April 2019, it also requires the total hours worked where pay varies by time worked [4] [9].
| Item | Mandatory | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay before deductions | Yes | ERA 1996 s.8(2)(a) [4] |
| Variable deductions, such as tax and NI | Yes | ERA 1996 s.8(2)(b) [4] |
| Fixed deductions, or an aggregate with a standing statement | Yes | ERA 1996 s.9 [5] |
| Net pay | Yes | ERA 1996 s.8(2)(c) [4] |
| Hours, where pay varies by time worked | Yes | ERA 1996 s.8(2)(e) [9] |
| NI number, tax code, rate of pay, year-to-date totals | Optional | GOV.UK employer guidance [2] |
Hours can be shown as a single total or as separate figures for different types of work or different rates of pay [4] [8]. Electronic payslips make the second option easy, because a portal can expand a single hours total into its component shifts.
Fixed deductions and the standing statement
A payslip need not itemise each fixed deduction if it shows an aggregate and the worker has a standing statement of fixed deductions [5]. That statement must be in writing and give the amount, interval and purpose of each deduction [5].
The standing statement ceases to be effective after 12 months unless it is re-issued, and Acas confirms it must be reissued yearly, or earlier if deductions change [5] [3]. GOV.UK adds that the separate statement must be sent before the first payslip [1]. An electronic payslip system that stores the standing statement alongside each payslip, with its issue date, gives the employer an audit trail for this rule.
A worked example of payslip figures
The figures on the payslip are only as reliable as the payroll calculation behind them. For a monthly salary of £2,500 in England, on tax code 1257L and category letter A, with a Plan 2 student loan, the calculator engine gives Income Tax of £290.20, employee National Insurance of £116.16, a student loan deduction of £4 and net pay of £2,089.64 [12] [13].
For an hourly worker paid 38 hours at the National Living Wage of £12.71 [17], weekly gross pay is £482.98. The engine gives Income Tax of £48.20, employee National Insurance of £19.28 and net pay of £415.50, and because pay varies by time worked, the payslip must also show the 38 hours [4] [13].
Pension deductions follow the same logic. Under auto-enrolment, the minimum total contribution is 8%, of which at least 3% comes from the employer, calculated on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year [19]. The employee's share is a deduction and must appear on the payslip with its purpose [4].
Delivering and accessing electronic payslips
The legal test for an electronic payslip is practical: can the worker receive it on time, open it and keep it? Delivery design decides whether the answer is yes.
Timing
The payslip must be provided on or before payday [1] [2]. For electronic payslips, that means the document must be available to the worker by the time the money arrives, not generated days later when the payroll is reconciled [4].
Payroll schedules should therefore publish payslips at the same moment as the BACS file is approved. A system that sends a notification when the payslip is available, and records the time of publication, gives the employer evidence that the timing rule was met [3].
Access and alternative formats
Acas advises that if an employee is unable to access payslips online, the employer should provide them in a different format [3]. The government guidance frames the same requirement as a format the worker can print [8].
Access also has an equality dimension. Employers must make reasonable adjustments so that workers with disabilities or health conditions are not substantially disadvantaged, and this applies to all workers, including trainees, apprentices and contract workers [20]. For electronic payslips, that can mean screen-reader-compatible PDFs, larger text or a printed copy on request [20] [3].
The table below compares the practical access risks of the main delivery methods.
Leavers and occasional workers
Leavers are the most common access gap. A worker who leaves usually loses access to the employer's systems, yet still needs the final payslip and may later need earlier ones for a mortgage, a benefits claim or a tax query. A final payslip sent as a printable attachment, or a portal that keeps leaver access open for a defined period, closes that gap [3] [8].
Occasional employers face a different problem: they may run payroll a few times a year and lack a portal altogether. An instant payslip generator produces a one-off, printable payslip with the mandatory fields, which is often the simplest route for sole-trader payroll or a single domestic employee.
Data protection and security
A payslip contains a name, pay, tax code, National Insurance number and often a bank or pension reference. It is personal data, and an electronic payslip system is a personal data processing system under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 [21].
The security principle
UK GDPR requires appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, but it does not define the specific measures an employer should use [14]. The ICO recommends encryption, with a suitable policy, when personal data is stored or transmitted over the internet [14].
In practice, that points away from unprotected PDF attachments sent to shared or work addresses, and towards authenticated portals or encrypted files. The ICO describes Cyber Essentials as a good starting point for the wider security posture [14]. The highest tier of UK GDPR fine reaches up to £17.5 million or 4% of total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher [23].
Breaches and misdirected payslips
A payslip emailed to the wrong person is a personal data breach. If a risk to individuals is likely, the employer must notify the ICO as soon as possible and, where feasible, within 72 hours, and must tell the affected people without undue delay where the risk is high [24]. Payroll teams therefore benefit from an electronic system that sends payslips only to verified addresses and logs every delivery [24] [14].
Subject access requests
Workers can ask for copies of their personal data, including historic payslips. An employer must respond without undue delay and within one month of receiving the request, with an extension of up to two further months for complex requests [22]. In most cases no fee can be charged [22].
An electronic archive makes these requests routine. A payroll system that can export every payslip for one worker in a single file turns a subject access request into a short task rather than a search through paper files [22] [21].
Record keeping for electronic payslips
Retention rules come from three directions: PAYE, the National Minimum Wage and data protection. They do not all point to the same period.
PAYE records
The PAYE Regulations require an employer to keep and preserve PAYE records for not less than three years after the end of the tax year to which they relate, and allow that duty to be met by preserving them in any form or by any means [25] [10]. Electronic payslip archives therefore satisfy the PAYE rule, provided the records survive for the full period.
GOV.UK lists the records to keep, including pay and deductions, reports and payments to HMRC, tax code notices and taxable expenses or benefits. If records are inadequate, HMRC may estimate the amount due and charge a penalty of up to £3,000 [11].
Minimum wage records
National Minimum Wage records must be kept for at least 6 years where they were created on or after 1 April 2021, and the period runs from the last day of the pay reference period after the one they cover [16]. They can be paper or computer records, but they must be producible for an individual pay reference period in a single document [16]. Acas states the same 6-year rule for records of hours worked and payments made [3].
Balancing retention and storage limitation
UK GDPR requires personal data to be kept for no longer than necessary [23] [21]. The statutory periods above give an employer a lawful reason to hold payslip data for at least 6 years, but not indefinitely. A written retention schedule, applied automatically by the payslip system, resolves the tension between the two rules [16] [23].
P60s, P45s and other electronic pay documents
Payslips are not the only pay document an employer issues. The year-end and leaver forms have their own rules.
Electronic P60s
Employers must give a P60 to every employee on the payroll on 5 April, by 31 May [6]. Regulation 67 of the PAYE Regulations sets the deadline as before 1 June following the end of the tax year and lists the required contents, without specifying paper [26].
HMRC's guidance confirms that a replacement P60 can be paper or electronic [6]. Many employers publish the original P60 through the same portal as payslips, alongside the payslip archive. The Moonworkers P60 end-of-year checklist covers the year-end process in more detail.
P45s for leavers
An employer must give an employee a P45 when they leave, and must not issue a second P45 if a payment is made after leaving [15]. Employers exempt from filing payroll online can order paper copies of P45s from HMRC [15]. Because the leaver may lose portal access, the P45 is best sent in a form the former employee can keep, alongside the final payslip [15] [3].
Software that cannot produce payslips
Not all payroll software produces payslips. GOV.UK warns that some products will not produce payslips, record pension deductions or pay people over different periods [27]. HMRC's free Basic PAYE Tools covers businesses with fewer than 10 employees and handles tax and National Insurance calculations, but HMRC states that it has limitations and is not designed for agents or bookkeepers [28].
HMRC recognition is the floor for any UK payroll software submitting Real Time Information, not a guarantee of payslip features. Bureaux running payslips for many clients typically rely on a payroll bureau platform that generates, publishes and archives payslips per scheme, while HR and workforce platforms can generate compliant payslips inside their own product through an HMRC-recognised payroll API.
An electronic payslip checklist
The rules above reduce to a short checklist an employer can run against any electronic payslip system.
- Every worker, not only every employee, receives a payslip from the first payday [3].
- Payslips are available on or before payday [1].
- Each payslip shows gross pay, every deduction, net pay and hours where pay varies by time worked [4].
- Any standing statement of fixed deductions is reissued at least every 12 months [5].
- Payslips can be printed, and an alternative format exists for anyone who cannot access the system [8] [3].
- Delivery is secure, logged and limited to verified recipients [14].
- Records are kept for at least 6 years and then deleted under a retention schedule [16] [23].
Check the figures behind a payslip
Before publishing a payslip, an employer can check the deductions on any gross pay with the Moonworkers UK salary calculator, which applies the 2026-27 PAYE, National Insurance and student loan rules.
£ per month
e.g. 1257L, S1257L, BR, D0
S = Scotland · C = Wales · W1/M1 = non-cumulative
Enter a salary or hourly rate above
About this calculator
This calculator gives you a close estimate of your UK payroll deductions for 2026-27, using HMRC's exact percentage method with periodised thresholds. It handles the three tax territories, K codes with the 50% regulatory limit and its carry-forward, weeks 53, 54 and 56, the cumulative and W1/M1/X bases, student and postgraduate loans, and pension contributions on qualifying earnings. It still won't match your payslip to the penny in every case: it does not cover in-year tax code changes, payrolled benefits in kind, NI deferral across more than one employment, directors on the annual earnings period, or employer-level annual adjustments such as the Employment Allowance and the apprenticeship levy. Powered by the same engine as the Moonworkers Payroll API.
Frequently asked questions
Why might the result differ from my payslip?
This calculator uses your current gross pay and tax code to produce an estimate. K-code carry-forwards and weeks 53, 54 and 56 are handled, and the Year-to-date section reproduces a specific period exactly. What your employer may apply that this does not: a mid-year tax code change, benefits in kind processed through payroll, or NI deferral across more than one employment. For most employees on a standard tax code the difference is negligible.
What tax code should I enter?
Use the tax code shown on your most recent payslip or the PAYE Coding Notice (P2) from HMRC. If you're not sure, 1257L is the standard code for most employees resident in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. Use S1257L for Scotland or C1257L for Wales if you pay Scottish or Welsh income tax.
Which NI category applies to me?
Most employees use Category A. Use M if you are under 21, H if you are an apprentice under 25, or C if you are over State Pension age. Your employer is responsible for assigning the correct category — if in doubt, check your payslip.
Which student loan plan am I on?
Your plan depends on when and where you studied. Plan 1 covers students who started before September 2012. Plan 2 is for English and Welsh students who started from September 2012 to July 2023. Plan 5 applies to English students who started from August 2023. Plan 4 covers Scottish students. You can check your plan at gov.uk or on your payslip.
What is the YTD cumulative PAYE mode?
HMRC's standard method calculates income tax on your total earnings to date each period, then subtracts tax already paid. If you're mid-year and want to see exactly what tax should be deducted in a specific period, expand the Year-to-date section and enter your running totals from previous periods only.
Conclusion
Electronic payslips are not a separate legal category. They are ordinary itemised pay statements delivered by a different route, and every rule that applies to paper applies to them: the content in section 8, the payday deadline, the standing statement cycle and the tribunal remedy for missing deductions. What electronic delivery adds is a second layer of obligations, around access, security and retention, that paper handled by default.
The direction of travel is towards payslips as structured data rather than documents. A payslip generated from the same calculation that feeds the Full Payment Submission, published on payday, archived for 6 years and exportable on request, meets the employment law, PAYE and data protection rules in one process. Employers and platforms that build payslips that way treat compliance as a property of the system rather than a monthly task.
Frequently asked questions
Are electronic payslips legal in the UK?
Yes. GOV.UK states that employers can choose whether to provide printed or electronic payslips [1]. The government's guidance adds that an electronic payslip must be in a format the worker can print [8].
Can a worker insist on a paper payslip?
The law lets the employer choose the format, but the worker must be able to access and print the payslip. Acas advises that where an employee cannot access payslips online, the employer should provide them in a different format [3]. Reasonable adjustments may also require an accessible alternative for a disabled worker [20].
What happens if an employer does not provide a payslip?
A worker can bring an employment tribunal claim. The tribunal can declare that the payslip was missing or incomplete and can order the employer to repay unnotified deductions made in the 13 weeks before the application [7] [8]. The same remedy applies to electronic and paper payslips.
How long should an employer keep electronic payslips?
PAYE records must be kept for at least 3 years after the end of the tax year they relate to [11]. National Minimum Wage records must be kept for at least 6 years, so most employers keep payslip data for 6 years and then delete it under a retention schedule [16].
