P60, P45 and payslips: what employers must give

Employers must give every worker an itemised payslip at or before each payday, a P45 when an employee leaves, and a P60 by 31 May to each employee still employed on 5 April. Payslips are an employment law duty under section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, while the P45 and P60 are PAYE duties under regulations 36 and 67 of the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003.

Who is entitled to a payslip?

Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 gives a worker the right to a written itemised pay statement at or before the time each payment of wages or salary is made. The right was extended from employees to the wider category of workers from 6 April 2019 by the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2018. That means casual staff and others who work under a worker contract are covered, not only people on a contract of employment.

GOV.UK lists the people who are not entitled: anyone who is not an employee or worker (such as a genuinely self employed contractor or freelancer), members of the police service, merchant seamen and crew in share fishing who are paid by a share in the profits or gross earnings of the vessel. Employers can choose printed or electronic payslips, but either way the payslip must be available on or before payday.

What must a payslip show?

Section 8(2) sets out the required particulars:

the gross amount of the wages or salary;
the amounts of any variable deductions and, subject to section 9, any fixed deductions, together with the purposes for which they are made;
the net amount payable;
where parts of the net pay are paid in different ways, the amount and method of each part payment; and
where pay varies by reference to time worked, the total number of hours worked for that variable pay, either as one aggregate figure or as separate figures for different types of work or rates of pay.

The hours requirement

The hours rule was added from 6 April 2019. It applies to hourly paid staff and to salaried staff paid overtime by the hour, so that the worker can check the pay against the time worked. A salaried employee whose pay does not vary with hours does not need hours on the payslip. Hours on payslips also support National Minimum Wage records.

Fixed deductions and the standing statement

Under section 9, a payslip may show fixed deductions (such as a season ticket loan repayment or a regular charity donation) as one aggregate figure, provided the employer has given the worker a written standing statement of fixed deductions at or before the time of the payslip. The standing statement must give the amount, the intervals and the purpose of each deduction. It can be amended by written notice, and it must be reissued in consolidated form within 12 months of first being given and then at intervals of no more than 12 months.

When must an employer give a P45?

Regulation 36 of the PAYE Regulations requires an employer, on ceasing to employ an employee for whom a tax code has been issued, to complete Form P45 and give Parts 1A, 2 and 3 to the employee on the day the employment ceases or, if that is not practicable, without unreasonable delay. Under Real Time Information the employer does not normally send Part 1 to HMRC; instead the leaving date goes on the Full Payment Submission (FPS) with the final payment. HMRC’s employer guide puts it simply: you must give your employee a P45 when they leave.

The P45 shows, among other things, the leaving date, the employee’s tax code and whether it was operated on a cumulative basis, and pay and tax to date for the tax year. Box 5 is marked Y where student loan deductions should continue with the next employer. Retirement on a pension paid by the same employer is not a cessation for this purpose, so no P45 is issued in that case.

If the last payment falls before 6 April but the employee leaves on or after 6 April, the leaving date should not go on the FPS carrying that final payment; it goes on the first FPS of the new tax year with zero pay. An employee cannot get a replacement P45; the new employer uses the starter checklist instead.

Paying someone after their P45

Where a payment is made after the P45 has been issued, such as late commission or accrued holiday pay, HMRC’s guidance is to use code 0T on a week 1 or month 1 basis (S0T or C0T for Scottish or Welsh taxpayers), deduct National Insurance and any student loan repayments as normal, report the payment on the next FPS with the original leaving date and the payment after leaving indicator set, and give the employee written confirmation of the gross amount and deductions. A second P45 must not be issued.

When must an employer give a P60?

Regulation 67 requires a P60 certificate before 1 June following the end of the tax year, so by 31 May, for every employee who was employed on the last day of the tax year (5 April) and from whose pay the employer was required to deduct tax at any time in that year. HMRC’s employer guide goes further and tells employers to give all employees a P60 at the end of each tax year, so in practice anyone on the payroll at 5 April should receive one. It can be on paper or electronic.

Regulation 67(2) lists the content: the tax year, the employer’s PAYE reference, name and address, the employee’s name and National Insurance number, the total pay and net tax for the employment, and the tax code. For an employee who joined during the year, the P60 also shows the previous employment figures carried in from the P45. Student loan deductions are shown in whole pounds. A leaver before 5 April gets a P45, not a P60. Unlike a P45, a lost P60 can be replaced by the employer.

How do these forms fit into the payroll year end?

GOV.UK sets out the annual sequence: send the final FPS of the year on or before the last payday of the tax year, update payroll records and software from 6 April, give P60s by 31 May, and report expenses and benefits by 6 July. Benefits reporting has its own rules, covered in our pages on benefits in kind and the P11D and payrolling benefits in kind. Our UK tax deadlines calendar places these dates alongside the other employer deadlines.

How does this work for a leaver paid after their P45?

Illustration only. Priya is paid monthly and works variable overtime at an hourly rate. She resigns and her last day is 14 August 2026.

Each monthly payslip must show the overtime hours worked, because that part of her pay varies with time worked.
Her August pay is reported on the FPS with her leaving date, and she is given Parts 1A, 2 and 3 of her P45 on 14 August, or without unreasonable delay if payroll has not yet run.
In September the employer discovers it owes her two days of untaken holiday. This is paid using code 0T month 1, reported on the next FPS with her original leaving date and the payment after leaving indicator, and confirmed to her in writing. No second P45 is produced.
She is not employed on 5 April 2027, so this employer does not give her a P60 for 2026 to 2027.

What happens if an employer gets it wrong?

For payslips, section 11 allows a worker to refer the matter to an employment tribunal. If the tribunal finds that no payslip was given, or that a payslip or standing statement did not contain the required particulars about a deduction, section 12 requires it to make a declaration. Where unnotified deductions were made in the 13 weeks before the application, it may order the employer to pay the worker up to the total of those deductions. A reference after the employment has ended must normally be made within six months of it ending.

For P45 errors, the employee should ask the former employer for an amended P45. If that does not happen, the employee can tell HMRC through the check your Income Tax online service and HMRC will contact the employer for corrected details. If a wrong leaving date was reported, HMRC’s guidance is to correct the payroll record but not to report the amendment on the next FPS, because that can create a duplicate employment record. Repeated payroll errors invite an HMRC employer compliance check.

What are the most common mistakes?

Not giving payslips to casual or zero hours workers because they are not employees. Since April 2019 workers are covered.
Leaving hours off the payslip for hourly paid staff.
Showing fixed deductions as one figure without a current standing statement.
Issuing a second P45 for a payment after leaving, or delaying the P45 until the final pay run weeks later.
Leaving box 5 blank on a P45 when student loan deductions should continue.
Missing the 31 May P60 deadline, or leaving out employees who had no tax deducted even though HMRC’s guidance says all employees should receive one.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.