Pay & Payslips
What a salary actually costs an employer
Understanding the total employment cost explains a great deal about how offers are constructed.
Payday Stories — What the work actually pays
Pay & Payslips
Reading a payslip properly, line by line
Most people check the net figure and nothing else. The lines above it are where errors hide.
Negotiation
Benchmark before you ask, not after they offer
Negotiation is mostly preparation. The conversation is short and the research is not.
Negotiation
Asking for a rise in a job you already have
Internal increases run on budget cycles and documented contribution. Timing matters more than eloquence.
Pay & Payslips
All pay & payslips →Pay & Payslips
Reading a payslip properly, line by line
Most people check the net figure and nothing else. The lines above it are where errors hide.
Pay & Payslips
What a salary actually costs an employer
Understanding the total employment cost explains a great deal about how offers are constructed.
Pay & Payslips
Why a bonus looks brutally taxed in the month it lands
The deduction on a one-off payment usually looks far worse than the rate you actually end up paying.
Negotiation
All negotiation →Negotiation
Benchmark before you ask, not after they offer
Negotiation is mostly preparation. The conversation is short and the research is not.
Negotiation
Asking for a rise in a job you already have
Internal increases run on budget cycles and documented contribution. Timing matters more than eloquence.
Negotiation
What a salary band is, and how it decides your offer before you speak
Most structured employers price a role into a range before anyone meets you, and the range does most of the work.
Side Income
All side income →
Side Income
The freelance rate that actually replaces a salary
A day rate has to cover holiday, sickness, pension, admin and the weeks with no work.
Side Income
Gig work economics after costs
Headline earnings figures rarely account for vehicle costs, waiting time and the hours that are not paid.
Side Income
A second job and the tax code that comes with it
Allowances are usually attached to one employment, which is why a second job can look heavily taxed from the first payslip.
Hours & Conditions
All hours & conditions →
Hours & Conditions
Overtime, unsocial hours and the pay that is not really extra
Premium rates compensate for a real cost. Whether they compensate enough is a calculation people rarely do.
Hours & Conditions
How holiday pay is calculated when your hours vary
Averaging over a reference period is the usual method, and the choice of period decides the amount.
Hours & Conditions
The unpaid minutes at each end of a shift
Handover, changing, security checks and system logins are work in most people's understanding and not always in the payroll…
Cost of Living
All cost of living →
Cost of Living
What a wage buys now compared with a decade ago
Real terms is the only honest way to compare pay across years, and the basket matters as much as the average.
Cost of Living
The costs of going to work
Commuting, childcare and the incidentals of employment are deducted from pay before any of it is spendable.
Cost of Living
Paid in arrears: the month of work you are always owed
Almost everyone lends their employer several weeks of labour permanently, and nobody describes it that way.
Rights at Work
All rights at work →
Rights at Work
Zero-hours and variable contracts: what to check before signing
Flexibility is genuinely valuable to some workers and is frequently one-directional in practice.
Rights at Work
Notice, contracts and the terms people never read
The clauses that matter most are the ones that only apply when things go wrong.
Rights at Work
Sick pay, and the gap most people discover too late
Occupational sick pay varies enormously between employers, and statutory provision is usually thin.
Also this month
- Overtime, unsocial hours and the pay that is not really extraHours & Conditions
- Zero-hours and variable contracts: what to check before signingRights at Work
- The freelance rate that actually replaces a salarySide Income
- Gig work economics after costsSide Income
- What a wage buys now compared with a decade agoCost of Living
- The costs of going to workCost of Living
- Notice, contracts and the terms people never readRights at Work
- Sick pay, and the gap most people discover too lateRights at Work