1. Who will the new payslip changes affect?

The difference between an employee and a worker becomes important here. An employee is someone who works for you and has a contract of employment. Instead, you might draft in workers on a more casual basis.

At the moment, you only have to give payslips to your employees.

From 6 April 2019, all workers are entitled to a payslip. Workers include agency staff, bank staff, casual or zero-hours staff. And you’ll need to send them an itemised payslip on or before every payday.

2. What information needs to be included on payslips?

You will need to include the hours staff have worked if their pay is not always the same. Why?

Because it is easier to check staff have been paid the right wage, and that they are getting the right hourly pay according to new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates, effective from 1 April.

3. Who will benefit from these changes?

Gig economy workers and staff who regularly work overtime will be affected the most.

4. What are the risks to businesses under the new payslip rules?

There will be more pressure to pay staff in line with the NMW or face being named and shamed by the government.

The risk from a business perspective is that it will be easier for staff to see whether they have been paid correctly and this could help them take the organisation to a tribunal for an unlawful deduction from their salary.

5. How to prepare for the changes

Work with HR and payroll departments to prepare for 6 April 2019. With all workers getting the right to a payslip, take a look at your staff and see who will need to receive their first one in April’s payroll.

To decide who is an employee and who is a worker, start with their contract and then look at their working relationship with you.

If you do not currently record the number of hours your staff work, you need to start.

About the author

Richmal Price is a payroll expert at Peninsula

Peninsula offers HR software package BrightHR to keep track of the hours staff work. For more information 0800 028 2420