Payroll

What a Compliant Payslip Must Show in South Africa

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets out exactly what goes on a payslip. Here is every field you need and when you must hand it over.

Updated 2026-07-30

Every payday, you owe your team more than money. You owe them a written record of how you got to that number. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) says a payslip isn't optional, and it isn't a formality either: it's a legal document that has to show specific things, every time.

Every field the BCEA asks for

The BCEA requires every employer to give each employee a written payslip on the day they're paid, not sometime later. It doesn't matter if you pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The obligation is the same each time: hand over the payslip when the money moves.

A compliant payslip contains, at minimum:

the employer's name and address
the employee's name and job title or occupation
the dates the payment covers
the employee's wage rate, and the number of ordinary and overtime hours worked
gross pay, meaning total remuneration before deductions
every deduction itemised, with the amount and reason for each one, so PAYE and UIF appear separately rather than lumped together
any overtime pay, bonus or allowance paid for that period
net pay, which is what actually lands in their account

Leave a field out and the payslip doesn't meet the standard, even if the total at the bottom is correct. It also has to reach them properly: at the workplace or somewhere else you've agreed with the employee, during working hours or close to them. You can't post it a week later and call it compliant. The point is that people see, on payday, exactly what they earned and why the number on their bank statement is what it is.

The detail that actually gets employers in trouble

The most common gap isn't the big numbers. It's the deduction detail. Employers show "deductions: R850" instead of breaking out PAYE and UIF separately, because one line looks tidier than three. It also fails the requirement, and it's the first thing a labour inspector or a disgruntled ex-employee will point to.

That matters more than it sounds, because a properly itemised payslip is your evidence too. If an employee later claims they were underpaid, or disputes a deduction, or says overtime wasn't accounted for, the payslip is the record both of you agreed to at the time. Employers who skip line items, or round numbers instead of showing the real calculation, are the ones who struggle to defend themselves at the CCMA. A boring, complete payslip is a form of insurance.

Get the payslip right every time and E·BIZI Pay will generate it for you, with every field in place, the moment you run payroll.

Common questions

Can I email a payslip instead of printing it?

Yes. The BCEA doesn't require paper. An emailed PDF, a portal download or a payroll app that an employee can access counts, as long as they can get to it at or near the workplace during working hours.

Do I need to give a payslip to a casual or part-time worker?

Yes. The BCEA payslip requirement applies to anyone who qualifies as an employee under the Act, whether they work full time, part time or casual hours. Pay period and hours worked matter more than job title.

What if an employee disputes what's on their payslip?

That's exactly what the payslip is for. It's your written record of what they were owed and what was taken off, so if there's a disagreement over hours, overtime or a deduction, you both start from the same document instead of a memory of what was agreed.

Is a payslip the same as an IRP5?

No. A payslip covers one pay period. An IRP5 is the annual certificate summarising a full tax year, issued after your EMP501 reconciliation, and used for the employee's own tax return.