Pay and remuneration

The minimum legal requirements on pay, wages and remuneration are:

• Equal Pay Regulations, which require
  - Written statement of the amount of pay an employee will receive or the method of calculation, and at what intervals
  - Itemised statement of pay
  - Certain restrictions on legal deductions from pay
• National Minimum Wage Regulations
• Employment Rights Act 1996

Methods of payment

Pay can be stated as an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual amount. Payments are usually made at weekly or monthly intervals by cash, cheque or credit transfer. The method of payment is determined by an employee's contract. If there is no express term then the method of payment impliedly agreed by law will be that which is customary in the industry.

Under the Wages Act 1986 an employee can no longer insist on being paid in cash.

Additional payments and bonuses

In many cases remuneration will be fixed in the contract as a guaranteed minimum amount that may be increased with other types of payment.

Additional payments might include:

• Geographical allowances, also known as 'weighting'. These may be paid to employees working in particular areas such as London. These are paid at an employer's discretion to cover some of the increased commuting and living expenses.
• Call-out pay for employees who are available to be 'called-out', normally with an extra payment if actually attending a call-out.
• Shift payments where employees work around the clock on different shifts which may attract different rates of pay depending on the shift
• Service increments which are annual increases to basic pay based on age or experience (although care should be taken not to discriminate in this regard)
• Bonuses, overtime or commission payments.

Reviewed and updated by the HR Services Partnership – April 2010.

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