Payslip Template South Africa: Free Payslip Generator
Build a payslip in ZAR: earnings on one side, deductions on the other, and the net your employee actually receives. The PDF is made on your device.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded
- Updated for 2026
- Last reviewed October 2026
- Reviewed by the Owoode team
- R ZAR
- VAT 15%
- Tax reference number
- A4
- English
What a South African payslip must show
- The employer's name and address.
- The employee's name and occupation.
- The period the payment covers.
- The employee's pay in money, before deductions.
- Every deduction, with its amount and what it is for.
- The amount actually paid to the employee.
- Where they are used to work out the pay: the rate of pay and the overtime rate, the ordinary and overtime hours in the period, hours worked on a Sunday or public holiday, and, under a section 12 averaging agreement, the total ordinary and overtime hours over the averaging period.
- PAYE line: employees' tax the employer withheld. SARS must receive it with the monthly EMP201 within seven days after the month ends, or on the last business day before if that day is a weekend or public holiday. The yearly IRP5 or IT3(a) certificate repeats it, and is due within 14 days when someone leaves.
- UIF line: 1% of the employee's remuneration, matched by another 1% from the employer, on earnings up to R17 712 a month, so neither side pays more than R177.12 a month. It does not apply to someone working under 24 hours a month for that employer.
- SDL: 1% of total salaries, paid by employers whose payroll will exceed R500 000 over the next 12 months. Only the employer pays it, so it is never deducted from the employee's pay.
Sources
- Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, section 33 (Department of Employment and Labour copy), read
- BCEA regulations summary, Government Notice 655, 29 August 2014, item 4.5, read
- SARS, Pay-As-You-Earn (page updated 23 September 2026), read
- SARS, Unemployment Insurance Fund (page updated 19 August 2026), read
- SARS, Skills Development Levy (page updated 19 August 2026), read
What the labour law requires on a payslip
The written pay statement goes to the employee at the workplace or a place they agree to, during working hours or within 15 minutes of their start or end (section 33(2) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act).
Under section 32, pay is due in South African currency, in cash, by cheque or into the employee's chosen account, within seven days after the pay period ends; cash goes in a sealed envelope that the employee keeps. Section 34 allows deductions only with written agreement to a specified debt or where a law, collective agreement, court order or arbitration award requires them, and loss-or-damage deductions are capped at a quarter of pay. Section 31 requires pay records to be kept for three years.
Social contributions on each payslip
Register as an employer with SARS within 21 business days of taking on staff (form EMP101e, or RAV01 on eFiling), unless no employee is liable for income tax. UIF contributions are made under the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, 2002, and the SDL counts overtime, leave pay, bonuses, commissions and lump sums as pay. Late employees' tax or UIF attracts a 10% penalty plus interest.