PAYSLIP HOURS

Does your payslip show your hours?

If your pay changes with the hours you work, your payslip has to show those hours. It is a legal requirement, and it is easy to check. Here is the rule, and a quick way to compare your own payslip with the shifts you actually worked.

What the rule says

Since April 2019, an employer must put the hours on a payslip when the pay varies with the time worked. Two official sources say it plainly:

“Your payslip must show … the number of hours you worked, if your pay varies depending on time worked.”

— GOV.UK, Payslips: employee rights

“An employer must record variable hours on the payslip.” And where someone is paid at different rates, “the employer should break the hours down to show the number worked at each different rate of pay.”

— ACAS, Payslips

This page explains the official guidance and gives you a calculator. It is not legal or tax advice. Your payslip and HMRC remain the official record.

Check your own hours

Put in the hours your payslip shows, the hours you believe you worked, and your hourly rate. Nothing is sent anywhere — the sum happens in your browser, and nothing is saved.

Hours on your payslip

Hours you actually worked

Hourly rate (£)

Compare the hours

Which hours should be on the payslip

• Your variable hours — the hours that change from one pay period to the next, and the pay for them.
• Overtime — overtime is variable, so its hours should be shown even if your basic hours are fixed and salaried.
• Each rate separately — if you are paid more for nights, weekends or bank holidays, the hours at each rate should be broken down.
• Not unpaid breaks — unpaid break time is not hours worked, so it should not appear as hours. Paid breaks are working time.
• Not your fixed salaried hours — if you are salaried for a fixed number of hours, the payslip does not have to list those fixed hours, only the variable ones.

If the hours do not match

1. Write down what you worked first. Dates, start and finish times, breaks, and any overtime. Memories fade and rotas get reissued.
2. Raise it informally. ACAS advises speaking to your manager, payroll team or employer as soon as possible — most errors are simple and get fixed quickly.
3. Then formally, if needed. If talking has not worked, you can raise a grievance. ACAS sets out both routes on its payslips page.

Do it properly: check the payslip itself

Typing the two totals tells you whether something is wrong. Finding which shift is wrong takes longer. Shift Tracker UK reads your payslip PDF in your browser — it is never uploaded — and compares it with the shifts you logged, day by day, listing every one that does not match.

It is free, needs no install, and works on any phone or PC.

Questions

Must my payslip show the hours I worked?

If your pay varies depending on the time you work, yes. GOV.UK says a payslip must show the number of hours you worked if your pay varies depending on time worked, and ACAS says an employer must record variable hours on the payslip.

Do unpaid breaks count as hours?

No. Unpaid breaks are not hours worked, so they should not be in the hours on your payslip. Paid breaks are part of your working time.

What if I am paid at more than one rate?

ACAS says the employer should break the hours down to show the number worked at each different rate of pay, for example basic hours and weekend hours separately.