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Take careAbout 75 min✓ Official sources · reviewed 2026-07-26

Know your rights at work (wage, payslip, contract)

The law is on your side more than you think — learn the floor nobody can pay you below.

Your progress0 of 5 steps done
  1. 1

    Check you're being paid at least minimum wage

    The National Minimum/Living Wage is a legal floor that applies to almost every worker in the UK — including foreign workers, part-timers and people paid cash. Check the current rate for your age on gov.uk, then divide your total pay by your actual hours worked. If deductions for uniforms or "admin fees" drag you below the rate, that's illegal too. Underpayment is enforceable years later, but catching it in month one is far easier.

    Prepare

    Your latest payslip (or your own record of hours if you don't get one).

    Watch out

    Your visa status does NOT reduce your wage rights — an employer who says "this is the rate for foreigners" is breaking the law.

    This one is serious — get real help

    This step involves a high-risk area (legal, immigration, medical or benefits). We won't advise you here. Ask MyLife AI to prepare, or contact an official or appropriately regulated service before you act.

  2. Step 2

    Read your contract before you rely on it

    You're legally entitled to a written statement of your main terms from day one: pay, hours, holiday, notice period. Read it once, slowly, with a translation app if needed. The parts that bite later are always the same three: your notice period, whether overtime is paid, and how holiday builds up. If you never received anything in writing, ask — the request itself is protected.

    Prepare

    Your contract or offer letter/message, and a translation app.

    Watch out

    "Self-employed" contracts for what is clearly a normal job usually mean the employer is moving their tax and insurance duties onto you.

  3. Step 3

    Understand your tax code

    That little code on your payslip decides how much tax comes out before you ever see your money. New starters often get put on an emergency code and quietly overpay for months. Log into your Personal Tax Account on gov.uk, check the code matches your situation, and if it's wrong, HMRC corrects it and refunds the difference — you don't lose the money, but only if you notice.

    Prepare

    Your NI number and a payslip.

    Watch out

    Texts or emails promising a "tax refund — click here" are scams; HMRC only refunds through your official account or by letter.

  4. Step 4

    Know your holiday and sick rights

    Almost every worker builds up paid holiday — even part-time, even on a zero-hours contract, it accrues in proportion to hours worked. Statutory sick pay exists too, after a few qualifying days. Check the current entitlements on gov.uk. Track your own holiday in your phone calendar; at busy workplaces "we'll sort it later" is how paid days quietly disappear.

    Prepare

    Your start date and average weekly hours.

    Watch out

    "We don't do holiday pay here" is not a policy — it's a legal violation, whatever the contract says.

  5. Step 5

    Know where to turn when something's wrong

    If pay is missing, hours vanish from your payslip, or you're treated worse than others, you don't have to fight alone or in English. ACAS gives free, confidential advice on work disputes, and Citizens Advice (0800 144 8848) helps in plain language. Keep screenshots of rotas and messages — quiet evidence collected early wins arguments later. Serious exploitation can be reported confidentially.

    Prepare

    A folder (phone is fine) with your contract, payslips and any messages about pay or hours.

    Watch out

    Don't resign in anger before getting advice — leaving first can weaken both your case and any benefit claims.

Need help? Ask MyLife

It already knows which playbook you're in. Answers come from official sources, with dates.