Research from The Pay Understanding Gap, from Workforce Management (WFM), pay and benefits solutions, has found that a third of workers surveyed (33 per cent) have delayed an important financial decision because they weren’t sure about the finer details of their own pay. The figure rises to more than one in two (52 per cent) among 18 to 24 year olds. The study also found that employees are almost 1.5 times more likely to check a restaurant bill carefully every time (49 per cent) than to read their payslip in full every time they’re paid (32 per cent).
The survey behind the report was conducted by Censuswide among 1,500 employees and 300 payroll professionals at large (1000+ employees) UK and Irish organisations. Other findings included:
- Just over one in three (34 per cent) have done nothing at all in the past year to check they’ve been paid correctly
- Nearly 4 in 10 (38 per cent) wouldn’t feel confident spotting an error on their payslip even if they tried
- Only 49 per cent of employees are confident they know their own tax code, fewer than those who know their daily step count (55 per cent) or the number of unread emails in their inbox (56 per cent), even though 89 per cent know their monthly take-home pay and 86 per cent their online banking password
- 40 per cent say it’s payroll’s job to catch a mistake on their payslip, almost twice as many as the 22 per cent who say it’s down to them
- 77 per cent believe payroll should catch every single mistake before payday, yet only 4 per cent of payroll professionals surveyed think that’s achievable
- One in ten (10 per cent) have put information from their payslip into ChatGPT or another AI chatbot to check or understand it
“Your payslip is one of the most important documents you receive, but for a lot of people it’s become something they glance at rather than read,” said Abigail Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer, Zellis. “We often check a restaurant bill more carefully than checking we’ve been paid correctly, and the difference isn’t that the bill matters more, it’s that the bill is easier to read. Pay has to make sense in the few moments people actually give it. The worrying part is what that uncertainty leads to: a third of people have put off a real financial decision because they weren’t sure what their own pay meant. Nobody should have to guess.”
Furthermore, the use of AI chatbots carries a risk. A payslip can include salary, bank details, a National Insurance number and pension contributions. A chatbot will answer confidently, but it has no knowledge of that employer’s pay policies or scheme rules, and the information has left the employer’s systems entirely so employees can’t be sure the AI information provided is based on fact.
For employers, the consequences go beyond the payslip itself. Pay is being delivered accurately, but it isn’t being understood, and that uncertainty feeds straight into financial wellbeing, trust and retention. Much of what shapes a payslip, from hours and shifts to benefits, pensions and tax codes, starts outside payroll. Zellis is calling on HR and benefits leaders to make pay understanding a core part of the employee experience: everyday language on payslips, proactive guidance at the moments that matter, and self-service tools built into the systems employees already use.
“Pay is the most frequent transaction between an employer and its people, and the most visible promise an organisation makes to its workforce,” added Vaughan. “If people can’t read it, the promise doesn’t land, even when every payslip is right.”
Three things to check on your next payslip
- Your tax code: check it matches what you’d expect (HMRC can confirm this).
- Your gross and net pay: make sure any changes, such as a pay rise, a new benefit or a change in hours, are reflected correctly.
- Pension and other deductions: confirm the amount going in matches what you signed up for.
And if something doesn’t look right, ask your payroll or HR team before you ask a chatbot. They can see your actual record, and your data stays where it should.
The full report, The Pay Understanding Gap, is available here.
