Wages

Starting a new job? Unclear about tax? Problems getting paid? This section looks at what happens to your money when you get paid. Find out about Tax and National Insurance.

Wages

Some people are paid weekly. Others are paid monthly. You'll normally get your first pay packet at the end of the first week or month. Some employers, however, ask people to work a week (or month) ‘in hand’. If so, you'll get your first week's pay at the end of the second week's work. Your employer should give you a clear statement of what your pay will be if you are an employee, or what your training allowance will be if you are a trainee.

Pay Slip

Some employees are paid in cash in a pay packet, and others have their salary paid directly into their bank or building society account.

Either way, you should receive a 'payslip' telling you how much you earned in total, and how much of that amount you get to keep for yourself. It's worth keeping your payslips for at least a year, in case you need to refer back to them.

In this case, Joe ends up with £660 paid into his bank account each month for him to use. Even though his monthly salary is £830!

So if an employer offers you "£10,000 a year", remember that the total paid into your bank account is likely to be much less in reality (£7,920 in Joe's case!).

Holiday Pay

All workers have a statutory right to at least 4.8 weeks paid annual leave (that's 24 days paid holiday if you work five days a week). You can find out more about holiday entitlement on the Directgov website.

Sick Pay (SSP)

Most workers qualify for SSP if their employer does not offer occupational sick pay. If you fall ill for a period of four or more calendar days in a row you may qualify for SSP. Temporary employees have the same rights to SSP as permanent employees.

To qualify for SSP you must be aged over 16 and under 65, in work and earning on average at least £90 a week.

Minimum Wage

There is a minimum wage of £3.40 an hour for 16 and 17 year olds (it doesn’t apply to apprentices). For 18-21 year olds the National Minimum Wage is £4.60 an hour. This goes up to £5.52 an hour at age 22.

If you think you are being underpaid ring the National Minimum Wage Helpline for help and advice on 0845 6000 678.

Last updated: 14-Apr-2008