Deductions from wages are only permitted where required or authorise under statute or the contract of employment or where the worker has previously given express written consent. Whilst there is no specific rule preventing an employer from charging an employee for a paper payslip, there is also no statutory provision enabling it to.

An employer who charges fees for paper payslips could fall foul to the unlawful deductions regime if it was not required under the contract or it did not have the employee’s agreement to the deduction.

By extension of this, potential employee-employer relations issues could arise under these circumstances. Especially in the context of lower earners, deductions such as this could have discriminatory consequences as some employees may not have access to a device that enables viewing of online payslips.