The law governing payslips is set out under Article 40 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“ERO”) which, in short, requires employees to be given a written itemised pay statement.

In terms of the provision of electronic payslips, the above legislation raises two questions:

1.  Does an electronic payslip constitutes a 'written’ payslip; and
2. If an electronic payslip is actually 'given' to the employee.

In Anakaa (Julius Ember) v Firstsource Solutions Limited [2014] NICA 57, the NI Court of Appeal held based on the current context of increased IT-based services, the requirement to provide a written itemised pay statement is complied with “if words are reproduced in a visible form on a computer screen”. The NI Court of Appeal considered the definition of “written” in the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 which includes “any mode of representing or reproducing words in a visible form”. Therefore, payslips provided electronically will be deemed to be ‘written’.

In relation to the second question, the NI Court of Appeal in Anakaa held that if an employer is aware that an employee has difficulty accessing their payslip via electronic means, it must ensure that the employee receives their payslip via a different means. Employers should be particularly careful with regard to any employees on leave (sickness or otherwise) who may not be able to access their payslips online.

Ultimately the format in which payslips are provided is a business decision which should be made after consultation with employees. If a business is confident that all of its employees can access their payslips online, this may be the most efficient way of providing employees with this information. However, as per Anakaa, employers must ensure that they do have alternative ways of providing payslips e.g. via post.