Do you check every payslip and save them for your records?

[MyAmusedOpalCrab]

I was wondering how many people actually check their payslips every month and keep them for future reference. Do you go through each one to make sure everything adds up or do you just assume it’s correct if your salary hits your account as expected?

Also, do you save all your payslips, either digitally or in paper form? I know some people who keep every single one, while others don’t bother at all. AIBU to think that checking and keeping them is just good financial sense?

My payslip from last month was incorrect as it missed off the pay from some overtime I did, if I didn’t check my payslip carefully that would’ve been missed and my manager would be none the wiser unless I flagged it up

Yes, I check and keep them for a few years. I work in pensions and the amount of times I’ve seen things like people suddenly realising they haven’t been paying contributions for years without knowing because an error’s been made, or not paying the right contributions, highlights the importance of checking. I also like to keep an eye on the tax to make sure that looks ok.

I’m always a bit baffled by people who don’t check their payslips. Why wouldn’t you?!

I do payroll so check mine before it's signed off higher up anyways. All saved electronically however.

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I don’t do overtime etc so generally my payslips are the same every month except for the annual bonus. So I don’t check much. I’ve just needed to provide three years of p60s in order to work out my available pension carry forward and am cursing myself for not having saved them somewhere!

Same

yes i save them on my computer and check when it comes in

Yes. I check it's correct, including pay & leave entitlements, and ensure my pension contribution has been paid. They always use the cheapest, barely trained bookkeeper in the firm, with very little idea to do the pays so I have very little faith.

I'd always advise keeping copies of payslips out of the work system I just had to ask a client for theirs (finance) and they had just retired, so had to chase their employer for copies.

I would 100% recommend you check them. We used a third party company to run our payroll and they make a lot of errors which result in overpayments. I am always amazed by the people who don’t check them at all or have even a basic understanding of their pay.
Always best to notice as unchecked overpayments can mount up into thousands over the months/years.

Im also a bit 🤔 about the people who for example were incorrectly recruited at the wrong higher grade or set up as London workers and have been receiving higher pay/ London pay for 20 years but have never noticed in all that time even though it’s clearly printed on their payslip and the pay award comms each year will clearly tell them how much they should be getting.

My husband has every pay slip he’s ever been given, we’re both 42 now. Newer ones filed online, older ones in a red ring binder! Occasionally I ask him if he really needs the paper ones, when we’re having a clear out but he’s very protective over them. Rubbish at organising other aspects of our life 🤣

Mine are online and I get the same amount every month. So I will check the first one in a new financial year (after my pay goes up) but then there's no need after unless the amount is different. (This has never happened.)

I used to check and save mine in previous jobs because I was working shifts and the payslip was given to us physically. I’ve been at my currently company since 2016 and I’ve not really checked unless I change roles and want to see it’s the correct pay and the annual bonus month. I’m paid the same monthly, it never changes and all the payslips since 2016 are on the same online portal which I can access easily and print when needed.

I wouldn’t as I’m salaried with no mileage /overtime so it’s the same amount every month. If I was to check every payslip would say exactly the same so not much to check.

Yes because my employers rubbish but also teachers pension is notorious for having the wrong info

Fair enough in that situation not to check every payslip but it would be sensible to check the payslips when things change (pay rise, tax code change etc).

I LOOK at my payslip every month to see what I'm getting but I have to admit I don't really understand it. I work shifts with varying payments (paid more on weekends), am on call sometimes, sometimes get called out and get on call payments for that, plus mileage... But I don't find it particularly clear and wouldn't bother going through it. If I'm called out twice in one month I appear to get more than if I'm called out once, that's about all I can fathom!
I just look at them, make a face at the amount of tax going out, then remind myself the ancient Greeks thought it was an honour to pay tax, download the payslip onto my computer and save it in a folder.

I check them and I send a copy to my personal email so if I were to lose access to work for some reason, I still have them.

When I was made redundant, I could access the pay website for a year after my termination date, so I also accessed my P45 there.

Depends on the job. Previously when my pay fluctuated and I had overtime then I would check. Now my pay is the same every month, I see it drop into my bank account so there's no need to check.

When it comes to being paid by my publisher and/or agent, I have absolutely no way of checking the accuracy, I just have to accept what they tell me, so no point in checking.

Mine are all online so stored in that way.
I do check to make sure that my fuel allowance is there and to have a monthly cry about how if I earned more I could spend more.

This

Well they’re just on our online portal thingy so I don’t save them but I can get them whenever. I thought that was pretty standard, DH is the same

Just remember if you leave a job, your access to your pay portal may be time-limited, so they might not always be available.

I’ve never worked for a company that has a pay portal.

It's just a pay website. Lots of employers use them these days to provide payslips electronically, but if you're in the sort of job where you don't need online access for your role, it would make sense to still do them as hard copies, because you are entitled to have payslips, and if they provide them in a format you can't access, they'd be breaking the law as an employer.

My employer puts a digital copy of my payslip into my account in our employee management system, so I don’t have to do anything to save or keep them. It’s done for me. I check it each month when they email me to tell me it’s there.