Chapter 3 Key facts checklists

Pay

An employer may be required to pay wages even if there is no work for the employee to do.
A deduction from wages or a payment by the employee to the employer is unlawful unless required or authorised by statute or the worker has agreed to it.
Employers may be entitled to restitution of overpayments made to an employee owing to a mistake of fact but not a mistake of law.
Employers must give their employees an itemised pay statement.
Part II Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) deals with the protection of wages.
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA) provides a minimum hourly wage for workers. Lower rates apply to younger workers and Pt 6 National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (NMW Regs) describes those who do not qualify at all. The government introduced the National Living Wage for those aged 25 and over with effect from 1 April 2016.
The hourly rate is calculated by adding up the total remuneration, less deductions, and dividing by the total number of hours worked during a pay reference period.
The Equality Act 2010 lays down three routes to equal pay between women and men.
Employers have a defence if they prove that there is a material difference between the woman's pay and the man's.
With effect from spring 2018, employers with more than 250 employees are subject to a duty to report their gender pay gap.