How To Read Your Payslip

Every time you are paid, your umbrella company will send you a payslip - sometimes called a Pay Statement - showing a full breakdown of your payments and deductions. You can usually view this by logging in to your umbrella company's portal.

At the top: Funds Received

The first figure you will see is Funds Received - this is the amount sent over from Zen Educate, based on the hours recorded on your timesheet.

Standard deductions

From that amount, your umbrella company will apply the following deductions:

Umbrella Margin — your umbrella company's fee for processing your pay. This is capped at £10 per week.

National Insurance Employer's Contribution (Employer's NIC) — paid by your umbrella company to HMRC on your behalf as your employer.

Apprenticeship Levy — an employment tax paid to HMRC to fund UK apprenticeships.

Employer/Employee Pension Contribution — a contribution to your pension fund. You can opt out of this by contacting your umbrella company directly.

Holiday Pay — a contribution to your holiday pay. By default this is paid to you directly, but you can ask your umbrella company to have it accrued instead so you receive it as a lump sum.

Please note that the amount Zen Educate sends to your umbrella company is slightly uplifted to account for these deductions.

Gross Pay

Once the above deductions have been applied, you will be left with your Gross Pay - also called your taxable pay. From this, HMRC will deduct Income Tax, Employee's National Insurance, and any other personal deductions according to your tax code.

Tax codes and emergency tax

Your tax code is set by HMRC, not by Zen Educate or your umbrella company.

If your tax code is BR, or contains W1 or M1, you may be on emergency tax. This usually happens when HMRC does not have up to date information about your employment. To resolve this, contact HMRC directly - your umbrella company can also advise.

Want a detailed breakdown?

For a full breakdown of your specific pay arrangement and deductions, check your Key Information Document in the app — go to More → Information → Key info document.

For any queries about your payslip, contact your umbrella company in the first instance. Take a look at our Who to contact for pay queries article if you are not sure who to go to.