Your Final Payslip When You Leave a Job

What your final payslip should include: unused holiday pay, notice pay, why tax can look high, when you get your P45 and what to do if pay is wrong.

2026/27 tax year

Employment & Career
Employee
England
Scotland
Wales

What should be on your final payslip

Your last payslip should cover your pay up to your leaving date, pay for statutory holiday you built up but did not take, and notice pay if you worked your notice or were paid in lieu of it. Income Tax, National Insurance, and any student loan and pension deductions come off as usual. You should get your P45 on your last day or without unreasonable delay. If money is paid to you after your P45, your employer must tax it on code 0T, which is why a late holiday payment can look heavily taxed. Any overpaid tax can be reclaimed.

Holiday pay owed when you leave, with a calculator
Notice pay and pay in lieu of notice
When your final pay should arrive
Why tax on the last payment can look too high
Your P45 and your payslip
If your final pay is wrong

The holiday and employment rights here are the law in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own working time and employment rights legislation. The tax and National Insurance rules apply across the UK.

Holiday pay owed when you leave

Statutory holiday can only be swapped for money when a job ends, and then it must be. GOV.UK: "Employers must pay for untaken statutory leave, even if the worker is dismissed for gross misconduct" (GOV.UK, taking holiday before leaving a job). How it is worked out depends on which set of rules your leave falls under.

Regular hours: the regulation 14 formula

If you have regular hours (full or part time), your statutory leave is 5.6 weeks a year: 4 weeks under regulation 13 and 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A, capped at 28 days. When you leave part-way through a leave year, regulation 14(3) says the payment is the sum a relevant agreement (such as your written contract) provides for, or, if nothing applies, pay for a period of leave worked out as the formula below. Whichever applies, GOV.UK is clear that employers "must pay for untaken statutory leave":

(A × B) − C

A is your statutory leave for the year under regulations 13 and 13A.
B is "the proportion of the worker's leave year which expired before the termination date".
C is the leave you took between the start of the leave year and the termination date.

Each day is paid at a day's share of a week's pay under regulation 16, which must include regular overtime, commission and similar payments for the first 4 weeks. Our holiday pay calculation guide sets out what counts and how the 52-week average works.

Example. A five-day worker on £500.00 a week whose leave year starts on 1 January leaves on 1 July, having taken 10 days. 181 of the 365 days of the leave year have gone before the leaving date, so A × B is 28 × 181/365 = 13.88 days. Less the 10 taken leaves 3.88 days at £100.00 a day: £388.49 before tax.

Leave carried over from an earlier year (because of sickness, maternity or other statutory leave, under an agreement, or because your employer did not give you a reasonable opportunity to take it) is paid in full on top, under regulation 14(6). Leave carried over because of sickness only lasts 18 months from the end of the leave year it arose in (regulation 13(15)), so leave older than that is no longer owed.
Holiday taken in advance. If you have taken more than had built up, regulation 14(4) lets a relevant agreement require you to repay it, by payment, extra work or otherwise. A relevant agreement means a workforce agreement, a collective agreement that forms part of your contract, or another legally enforceable written agreement with your employer (regulation 2). GOV.UK puts it plainly: the employer "must not take money from their final pay unless it's been agreed beforehand in writing".
Extra contractual holiday. The rules above cover the statutory 5.6 weeks. If your contract gives more, GOV.UK says employers "can agree separate arrangements for the extra leave", so check your contract.
If you started part-way through a fixed leave year, your leave for that year was already reduced in proportion (regulations 13(5) and 13A(5)). Ask your employer to show their working; the calculator below does not cover this case.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers build up leave at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, up to 28 days a year (regulation 15B). There is no pro-rata formula on leaving: under regulation 15E your employer pays for the leave you have built up and not taken, at the regulation 16 rate, unless a relevant agreement sets the sum. If you were already paid rolled-up holiday pay for those hours (an uplift shown separately on each payslip), nothing more is due for them (regulation 15E(5)).

Holiday pay on leaving calculator

For regular-hours workers. Works out the regulation 14 statutory minimum; your contract may give more.

Enter your dates and press Work out.

Notice pay and pay in lieu of notice

If you work your notice, it is paid and taxed like any other pay. If you are paid instead of working it (payment in lieu of notice, or garden leave), GOV.UK says you pay tax and National Insurance on the part of a termination payment "equivalent to what you'd have earned if you were working", known as post-employment notice pay (GOV.UK, tax on termination payments). How that interacts with a redundancy or settlement payment is covered in our guide to settlement agreement tax.

When your final pay should arrive

Acas: "A worker should get their final pay on the date they are normally paid." Its example is someone paid at the end of the month who leaves in the middle of it: "They will probably get their final pay at the end of the month." Acas also says the payslip should make clear what each payment or deduction is for (Acas, final pay when someone leaves a job; Acas guidance is not law). Your contract's payday is what to check first.

If the wages due on that date are not paid, or only partly paid, the shortfall is treated as a deduction from your wages (Employment Rights Act 1996, s.13(3)), and wages include holiday pay (s.27). That is the claim you can take to an employment tribunal under s.23 if a written request does not work: see if your final pay is wrong.

Did not work your notice? That does not on its own let the employer keep wages you have already earned. Under s.13(1) a deduction needs a statutory power, a contract term you were given or told about in writing before the deduction (s.13(2)), or your written agreement given beforehand. Ask your employer which of those it relies on.

Why tax on the last payment can look too high

Paid with your last normal pay: your employer "make[s] deductions as normal" on your usual tax code (GOV.UK, what to do when an employee leaves). Holiday pay, unpaid wages, bonuses and pay in lieu of notice are all taxable earnings.

Paid after your P45: HMRC's instructions to employers for "an employee after they leave" are to

use tax code 0T on a week 1 or month 1 basis (S0T in Scotland, C0T in Wales);
deduct National Insurance and student loan repayments as normal, but treat an irregular payment such as accrued holiday pay as a weekly payment;
give you written confirmation of the payment showing the gross amount and the deductions, and not give you another P45.

0T means no tax-free Personal Allowance. A week 1 or month 1 code means, in GOV.UK's words, "you get taxed as if you're paid that amount every week or month of the year" (GOV.UK, emergency tax codes). So a lump of holiday pay is taxed from the first pound, and on a week 1 basis much of it can fall in the higher-rate band.

£2,000.00 of holiday pay paid after your P45, 2026/27 rates outside Scotland. Rounded to the penny; payroll tables can differ by a few pence.
Deduction	How it is worked out	Amount
Income Tax, 0T month 1	As if paid £24,000 a year with no allowance: all within the 20% band	£400.00
Income Tax, 0T week 1	As if paid £104,000 a year: no allowance, so 20% on the first £37,700 and 40% on the rest	£655.00
National Insurance	Weekly: 8% from £242 to £967, 2% above	£78.66

What you actually owe depends on your total income for the tax year, so some of that may come back. HMRC's own page on termination payments says the same: after your P45, "Tax will be deducted on the assumption that you have used up your personal allowance for the current tax year". Scottish taxpayers are taxed on S0T at Scottish rates, so their figures differ.

Getting overpaid tax back

Starting a new job: give the new employer your P45. When HMRC updates your tax code it can ask the employer to refund the difference through your pay (GOV.UK).
Stopped working: once you have had your final pay you may be able to claim on form P50 or online, for example if you have been unemployed for 4 weeks or more and are not claiming taxable benefits, have retired without a pension from that employer, do not expect to work again, or have gone back to full-time study (GOV.UK, P50). Our temporary job tax guide walks through the same routes for a short job.
Otherwise: HMRC checks your tax after 5 April and writes to you if you paid the wrong amount. See what a P800 letter means and the full tax refund process. If an emergency code follows you into your next job, see our emergency tax guide.

Student loan and pension

Student loan: repayments come off your final pay in the usual way. If you are paid after leaving, the employer works them out "on the same amount, and for the same earnings period" as for National Insurance, and your P45 tells your next employer whether deductions should continue (GOV.UK employer guidance).
Pension: workplace pension contributions are normally taken from your final pay as usual. The auto-enrolment minimum is worked out on qualifying earnings, which include "salary, wages, commission, bonuses and overtime" (Pensions Act 2008, s.13), so a larger final payment can mean a larger contribution. Your scheme's rules decide what happens to your pot after you leave.

Your P45 and your payslip

When: your employer must give you Parts 1A, 2 and 3 of the P45 "on the day on which the employment ceases or, if that is not practicable, without unreasonable delay" (PAYE Regulations 2003, reg 36(2)).
What it shows: your leaving date, total pay and tax from 6 April to the date you left, and your tax code. Give Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer and keep Part 1A. A lost P45 cannot be replaced: fill in a starter checklist instead. Your pay and tax for the last 5 tax years are in your personal tax account (GOV.UK, P45).
Your payslip: you have the right to an itemised pay statement "at or before the time" you are paid, showing gross pay, each deduction and its purpose, and net pay, plus hours where your pay varies with time worked (Employment Rights Act 1996, s.8). That includes the final one. Our payslip explained guide decodes each line.
Deductions: your employer may deduct something from wages, which include holiday pay (s.27), only if a statute or your contract allows it or you agreed in writing beforehand (s.13). Recovering an earlier overpayment of wages or expenses is an exception (s.14(1)). So a deduction for something like training costs or uniform on your final payslip needs a contract term you were given or told about in writing, or your written consent, before it was made.

If your final pay is wrong

Ask your employer in writing for a breakdown, quoting the payslip and, for holiday, regulation 14 or 15E.
If it is not put right, you can complain to an employment tribunal of an unlawful deduction from wages (Employment Rights Act 1996, s.23) or, for holiday pay, a failure to pay an amount due under regulation 14(2) or 15E (Working Time Regulations, reg 30). You must give Acas details of the claim for Early Conciliation first (Employment Tribunals Act 1996, s.18A).
Time limit. The time limit depends on when the thing you are complaining about happened, not on when you file: 3 months less 1 day if it happened before 1 October 2026, and 6 months less 1 day if it happened on or after that date. For a dismissal the date is the effective date of termination; for a series of acts or deductions it is the last one. Starting ACAS Early Conciliation pauses the clock. For these claims the date that counts is the date you were paid (for a deduction) or should have been paid (for holiday pay under regulation 30), under the Schedule to SI 2026/954.

Acas helpline: 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (GOV.UK).

Frequently asked questions

Do I get paid for unused holiday when I leave a job?

Yes, for statutory holiday you have built up but not taken. Under regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 your employer must pay you for it when you leave, even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct. GOV.UK says employers must pay for untaken statutory leave, so a contract cannot take that payment away. Where no written agreement sets how it is worked out, the statutory formula applies. Extra holiday your contract gives above 5.6 weeks is paid according to your contract.

Can my employer take money from my final pay for holiday I took in advance?

Only if a written agreement says so. Regulation 14(4) lets a relevant agreement (your written contract, a collective agreement or a workforce agreement) require you to pay back leave taken beyond what had built up. GOV.UK says an employer must not take money from final pay for this unless it was agreed beforehand in writing.

Why was so much tax taken from my final pay?

Check whether it was paid after your P45 was issued. For a payment after leaving, HMRC tells employers to use code 0T on a week 1 or month 1 basis for a payment after leaving: no tax-free allowance, and the payment taxed as if you were paid that amount every week or month. Too much tax comes back through your next job, a P50 claim if you have stopped working, or HMRC's check after the tax year ends.

When should I get my P45?

On the day your employment ends or, if that is not practicable, without unreasonable delay, under regulation 36 of the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003. If you are paid after leaving, your employer gives you written confirmation of that payment instead: you must not be given a second P45.

Is holiday pay on leaving taxed?

Yes. GOV.UK lists holiday pay, unpaid wages, bonuses and payment in lieu of notice as earnings you pay Income Tax and National Insurance on when you leave. Student loan repayments and pension contributions may also come off, as on any payslip.

When should my final pay be paid after I leave?

Acas says a worker should get their final pay on the date they are normally paid, so if you are paid at the end of the month and leave mid-month it will probably arrive at the end of that month. If the money due on that date is not paid, or not all of it, section 13(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 treats the shortfall as a deduction from your wages, which you can claim at an employment tribunal after Acas Early Conciliation. Not working your notice does not by itself let your employer keep pay you have already earned: a deduction needs a statutory power, a contract term you were given or told about in writing beforehand, or your prior written agreement, unless it is an excepted deduction such as recovering an overpayment of wages (ERA 1996 ss.13, 14).

What can I do if my final pay is wrong or missing?

Ask your employer first, in writing. If it is not put right you can claim at an employment tribunal for an unlawful deduction from wages, or under the Working Time Regulations for unpaid holiday pay, after Acas Early Conciliation. The time limit depends on when the thing you are complaining about happened, not on when you file: 3 months less 1 day if it happened before 1 October 2026, and 6 months less 1 day if it happened on or after that date. For a dismissal the date is the effective date of termination; for a series of acts or deductions it is the last one. Starting ACAS Early Conciliation pauses the clock.