“Workers” now entitled to itemised pay statements

As a result of changes to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA), the right to an itemised pay statement has been extended to “workers” from 6 April 2019. Prior to this date only employees were entitled to itemised notices of pay.

There are two elements to this right. First, workers, including bank staff, casual staff, agency staff and those on zero hours contracts, must be given an itemised pay statement. In most cases the number of hours worked must be shown in addition to the payment made. Tax and national insurance deductions, if made by the “employer”, must also be detailed.

Where there are different hours in each pay period, the itemised statement must include the number of hours worked.

The Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has published a guide which explains the new rules and gives eight helpful case studies that cover the different scenarios, such as a salaried worker with additional pay for overtime, or an hourly paid worker with additional pay for unsocial hours.

Only pay periods after 6 April are covered by the new rules. Employers who breach this new rule can be penalised for their failure to comply. Employment tribunals can award up to 13 weeks' pay to workers. This could include circumstances in which the gross and net pay have been provided in written form to the worker, but unspecified deductions have been made. In these cases the tribunal has discretion to award the total of the deductions made.

If the employment or worker relationship has ended, it is in the former employee or worker's interests to make a claim as soon as possible, because only the 13 weeks immediately before the date of the claim can be considered.

The claimant must obtain an ACAS early conciliation certificate before making a claim, so it is in their interests to apply to ACAS as soon as possible and then immediately submit an ET1.

Full details of the new rights and obligations have been published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. They can be accessed at this link.