Wages

Being paid

When you start your job, your employer should tell you when and how much you will be paid. They should also tell you how you will be paid, whether in cash, by cheque or directly into your bank account. You must receive a document telling you how much you will be paid and at what intervals, within 2 months of starting your job.

When or before you are paid, you should receive a payslip. This should list your gross pay (total earned), your net pay (amount you take home) and any deductions. Deductions might be made for income tax, national insurance and any other contributions, e.g. pension, trade union subscriptions.

Deductions from pay

Your employer cannot make deductions from your wages unless:

• Your contract says that they can and you have seen this in writing before the deduction was made
• The deduction is required by law e.g. Income Tax 
• You have agreed to a deduction in writing before any incident for which your employer is going to make a deduction

If you have previously been overpaid, then your employer is often entitled to recover the money from your wages. For more information about recovering overpayments, please speak to an adviser.

If these deductions do not apply and you haven’t received all or some of your pay, then your employer may have made an unlawful deduction of wages. You can find suggestions of what to do on the problems at work page. Failing to pay holiday pay can also be an unlawful deduction from wages.