Final Payslip When Leaving a Job: Holiday, Deductions and P45

Acas says a worker should receive final pay on the usual payday. Leaving halfway through a month does not normally bring payday forward. Confirm the date with payroll and check any contractual arrangement. Northern Ireland’s official resignation guidance also says normal payday applies unless the contract provides otherwise.

Ask what the run includes: wages to the leaving date, any notice-related payment, unused holiday, commission, expenses and deductions. A later bonus or adjustment may need a separate payment. Keep ordinary earnings, expenses and any termination award separate; this guide does not assess the tax or legal treatment of a redundancy or settlement package.

Ask for the leave-year dates, entitlement, leave accrued by the leaving date, leave already taken and the rate used for any payment. In Great Britain, untaken accrued statutory holiday must be paid when employment ends. Extra contractual leave can have separate terms. Do not assume the total shown on a holiday-booking screen is the accrued balance.

If you took more holiday than you had accrued, check the agreement behind any deduction. GOV.UK says a final-pay deduction for excess holiday needs prior written agreement. Northern Ireland’s official guidance also says excess-holiday deductions normally need prior agreement; use its own employment-rights route for a dispute.

Variable hours, part-year work and variable pay need the applicable holiday rules and records. Ask for the employer’s calculation rather than applying a generic daily rate. Do not use the salary calculator to decide a statutory holiday-pay dispute.

Separate PAYE, employee NI, pension and loan deductions from items such as an advance, training charge or equipment deduction. Ask for the amount, calculation and contractual or legal basis of an unfamiliar item. Its appearance on a payslip does not establish that it is authorised or correctly calculated.

A lower bank payment can reflect fewer paid days, a deduction or a changed tax calculation. The two-payslip comparison identifies the contributing lines. It cannot decide whether the underlying contractual deduction is lawful. For a pay dispute in England, Scotland or Wales, contact Acas; in Northern Ireland use the Labour Relations Agency. Get help promptly because formal claims have time limits.

The employer must provide a P45 when you leave. It records the leaving date, pay and tax from 6 April, and the tax code. Give it securely to the next employer. If its pay or tax totals are wrong, ask the previous employer for an amended P45; HMRC explains the next route if you cannot obtain one.

A P60 is the year-end record: an employer you work for on 5 April must provide it by 31 May. It is not a substitute final payslip or a P45 for a job left earlier. Check the dates before concluding that a missing form is overdue. See the first-pay guide for handing records to a new employer.

HMRC’s employer guidance says that a payment after a P45 normally uses 0T on a week 1/month 1 basis, with S0T or C0T where appropriate. NI and loan deductions follow their own payment rules. This can make the later payment look different from your normal wage; an annual salary estimate cannot reproduce it reliably.

The employer should give written confirmation showing the gross payment and deductions, rather than another P45. Keep that statement with the earlier payslip and P45. Ask which earnings and payment date it covers, and check HMRC’s pay and tax record if something remains unclear.

Write down the leaving date, expected payday, disputed line, observed amount and record you are comparing it with. Ask payroll to explain the method and when any correction will be made. The editable payroll question template helps keep the message factual.

For example: “Please explain the unused-holiday payment and training deduction in my final pay. Could you provide the leave balance and pay-rate calculation, and identify the agreement used for the deduction?” Send records through the employer’s private channel.