#BTColumn – Dear HR . . . Does my employer have to give me a payslip every week?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Carol-Ann Jordan and Jacqueline Belgrave

Yes, your employer must give you a payslip each time you are paid whether weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

According to law you have a right to receive an itemised pay statement/ payslip from your employer. The payslip must be given to you before or at the time you are paid.

Here is what the payslip must contain:

• The gross amount of wages i.e. your full pay before any deductions are made – deductions like National Insurance (N.I.S)
or taxes (P.A.Y.E).

• Your Net Pay i.e.  your “take home” pay after the deductions are made.

• Any deductions (fixed or variable) and the purposes for which the deductions are made. Variable deductions include your NIS and taxes. The fixed deductions are those which remain unchanged pay day to pay day e.g. union dues, mortgage payments or any loans.

• The payment period i.e. whether you are paid monthly, weekly or bi-weekly.

• The date of payment i.e. the date on which you will be paid based on your pay period.

The other items that may be shown on your pay slip are as follows:

• Your name, and sometimes your home address.

• A payroll number which your company may assign to identify you in their payroll system.

• Your National Insurance number (which you retain for your entire working life regardless of which company you work for). This number is used to make sure all your contributions and your entitlement to benefits – such as a pension and unemployment are properly recorded

• Your contributions to a pension scheme or medical insurance plan.

• A running total (year to date figure) of all deductions and payments made to you paid for that financial or calendar year.

Where your employer fails to provide the payslip or where a payslip is provided fails to provide the required details, you can take the matter to the Employment Rights Tribunal. Employers who are unsure of what should be done may also seek assistance from the Labour Department.

Your employer does not necessarily have to provide the payslip by hand – it does not necessarily have to be a paper copy. If your employer emails it or makes it available for you to access via a confidential electronic portal, this is also acceptable.

1. In a disciplinary process is the investigative hearing necessary if the act of the employee is obviously one
that breaches the code of conduct?

Even where an employee has already admitted that they have done something wrong, in many cases it will still be necessary to conduct an investigation
in order fully to understand the circumstances and ensure that everyone involved is treated fairly.

The purpose of an investigative hearing is to establish what happened, while the purpose of a disciplinary interview is to decide what to do about it.

Key to a disciplinary hearing ensuring the procedure undertaken is a fair one. The investigative hearing is a part of having a fair procedure.

If the employer does not carry out a reasonable investigation, any decisions they make in the disciplinary hearing may be deemed as unfair.

It is critical for an investigation into potential misconduct to take place prior to the employer deciding to progress to a disciplinary hearing and/or issue a disciplinary sanction. It is not always the case that a disciplinary investigation will result in a disciplinary hearing.

The purpose of an investigation is to:

1. determine whether there is a case for the employee to answer;

2.  make sure there is fair and consistent treatment of employees and  of disciplinary matters within the business;

3. gather information from all involved; and

4. decide what steps are to be taken next.

The employer must be careful that the person or panel involved in the investigation process will not be part of the disciplinary process if it is determined that will be the next step.

Further, if the person chosen to conduct the matter is a potential witness to the misconduct, they must be excluded from the investigative process.

It is important that the employer takes into consideration the need to have independent individuals in reserve to chair any potential disciplinary hearing and a potential appeal hearing.

Normally the appeal hearing is chaired by a more senior person than the person who chaired the disciplinary hearing.

It is critical that the person who conducts an investigative hearing with an employee suspected of misconduct ensures the interview remains investigative and does not allow it to become a disciplinary hearing.

About Lifeline Labour Solutions: Lifeline Labour Solutions is a boutique partnership providing people management solutions to workplace challenges Partners Carol-Ann Jordan and Jacqueline Belgrave are established practitioners with a wealth of knowledge and experience in Employment Relations, Labour Relations and Human Resource Management between them. Email: info@ lifelinelabour. com; Tel: 1(246)247-5213