Paystub, Payslip, Paycheck – Are They All The Same

Whether you are in the HR team issuing out salaries to employees or on the receiving end counting down to payday, you would have come across these few terms: paystub, payslip and paycheck.

While the common trait between these three terms is that they all have "pay" in them, do they imply different meanings? Are employees expected to receive different types of compensation information on a paystub vis-a-vis a payslip?

According to the definition by Merriam-Webster, paystub is "a piece of paper that is given to an employee with each paycheck and that shows the amount of money that the employee earned and the amount that was removed for taxes, insurance costs, etc." A quick online search on Google revealed similar meanings for payslip and paychecks. Essentially, these three terms have the same meaning but perhaps, each term is more commonly used within a certain part of the world.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A PAYSTUB, PAYSLIP AND PAYCHECK

Whilst the terms are different, it is crucial for HR to be familiar with these terms. Given the global market that organisations are in today where managing employees across multiple geographies is commonplace, there needs to be a strong understanding of the specific compensation terms used for each country to avoid misunderstandings with employees.

Similarly, it is imperative for HR to be aware of what goes on a payslip. Each country has its own payroll laws, which mandates the type of information that needs to be printed on employees’ payslip. For example in Singapore, all employers are required to provide itemised payslips to employees. Some of the key employment terms (KET) that needs to be printed on the payslip includes the full name of employer and employee, date of payment, start and end date or salary period, and net salary paid in total. Non-compliance can subject the organisation to fines between S$100 to S$200 per employee or occurrence. These requirements vary from country to country and it is always best to check directly on the respective government website for the most updated information.

MANAGING THE COMPLEXITIES OF PROVIDING COMPLIANT PAYSLIPS

With the varying country legislations in providing payslips to employees, it can be time-consuming to prepare these documents, particularly if employees span across multiple geographies. To minimise errors and non-compliance, it is always best to leverage on a payroll processing software or third-party payroll partner to take away the administrative HR process of payslip generation. A payroll software can help to accurately track employees’ working hours as well as take into account any applicable allowances or deductions during the payroll cycle. Most payroll software would have already been configured to comply with the respective country’s payroll laws and legislations.

A payroll software helps to free up HR’s valuable time from administrative tasks to focus on strategic matters. This is where ePayslip serves as the ideal payroll solution. As a SaaS payroll solution provider, ePayslip works closely with both SMEs and large enterprises across APAC to provide payroll mastery and complementing HR suites such as Leave, Expense, Employee Records and Timesheet, maintaining accuracy and compliance concurrently. Its cloud-based platform also means that payroll data can be conveniently and securely accessed on the go. Contact ePayslip today to understand more about the available payroll solutions.