Is an employer required by law to provide a payslip each month?
Each month you process the wages of your employees in the payroll. In most cases, the employee will receive a payslip on which a specification of the wages is stated. But is it really mandatory to provide an employee with a payslip every month? Especially if nothing changes?
Payslip not required by law
It is not legally required to provide a payslip every month. The employee will in any case receive a payslip when the first salary is paid. A payslip must also be provided to the employee if anything changes in the wage or in the payroll taxes.
For example, the percentages of statutory deductions are regularly adjusted and this causes a change in an amount or premium. If you employ workers who have varying salaries or hours then you are required by law to provide a payslip to these workers as well every month.
As an employer, you would therefore have to keep track of every time something has changed and with which employee. You can imagine that the savings in costs of providing a pay slip may not outweigh the additional costs of an extensive check. Certainly not if the payslip is provided digitally to all employees at once.
But if you decide not to provide a payslip every month as a standard, then that option is available.
Which information on the payslip is required by law?
If you provide a payslip, then you are obliged to include a number of details. The payslip contains the following information:
- the gross wage;
- the amounts from which the gross wage is made up, for example, the basic wage and any performance bonuses;
- the statutory minimum wage and the minimum holiday allowance applicable to the employee;
- the name of the employee and the name of the employer;
- the period for which the employee is paid, for example, the month of July;
- the number of hours the employee works;
- whether there is a written employment contract (or written addendum to the original employment contract);
- whether there is an indefinite employment contract;
- whether or not there is an on-call contract.
A Citizen Service Number (BSN) on the payslip is no longer required
The tax authorities have removed the obligation to include the employee’s Citizen Service Number (BSN) on the payslip. By not stating the BSN, there is less risk of identity fraud when sending the payslip. In doing so, the tax authorities conform to the judgment of the Personal Data Authority that the BSN is only intended for communication between the government and the citizen. After all, the payslip is a communication between the citizen and an organization.
It is still mandatory to mention the BSN on the annual statement though.
Is it legally required to provide the payslip on paper?
It may be easier to offer a payslip digitally for various reasons, for example because hundreds of people are employed or because you like to work paperless. But did you know that you must have express permission from the employee to send the paycheck digitally? If an employee prefers to receive the payslip on paper, then you are legally obligated to provide the payslip on paper.
Payroll takes up a lot of time each month. Time you might prefer to spend on your organisation or other HR matters. Our payroll consultants ensure that the payroll runs smoothly. All you have to do is pass on any changes.
