What you need to know about pay

Q&A – What do I need to know about pay?

Are you starting a new job outside of the NHS and confused by your payslip?  Get up to speed with your rights with this edited version of the CSP’s resource on pay and conditions?

How to find out about my pay?

Your job offer letter and your employment contract should spell out clearly what pay and benefits will be provided by your employer.

Your pay is a key term of your contract of employment. It is the basis on which you have agreed to work for your employer. Your employer must keep any promises they make to you about your pay. Your pay cannot be cut, or your payment methods altered, except with your agreement.

Your employer is legally required to give you specific information about your pay.

They must give you this information on day one of employment in a document known as a written statement of employment particulars.

If any changes are made to your terms and conditions, you must be given a new statement setting out those changes within a month.

Your written statement must include:

• your start date
• your continuous service (this is important if you have transferred from another employer)
• how your pay is worked out, including any pay rate, band or scale
• how often and when you get paid, for example, ‘monthly on the last Friday of the calendar month’
• how you are paid, for example, bank transfer
• your working hours, including overtime and any overtime pay. Your employer must include some extra detail, including your working days if you work part time, whether your hours/days are fixed or variable, and if they vary, what the rules are (for example, how the shift rota works and how you will be told about shifts and shift changes)
• your rights to sick leave and sick pay
• your rights to holidays and holiday pay
• pension information
• benefits apart from basic pay, such as mileage allowance or health insurance
• parental leave and pay policies
• training, including any compulsory training your employer won’t be paying for

What does my pay slip tell me?

You must be given an itemised payslip by your first pay date.

It must show your gross wages and any deductions (such as tax, national insurance and student loan repayments), as well as your net (take home) pay.

If your pay varies depending on your working hours, your pay slip must show how many hours you are being paid for. You should be able to tell from looking at your pay slip how much you are getting paid for every hour that you work.

How can the CSP support me on pay?

If you work in a large employer with other CSP members, you should have a workplace union steward who can support you. If you do not know how to contact your steward, or work in a workplace where we have not got any stewards yet, contact the CSP on: enquiries@csp.org.uk or 020 7306 6666.