One payslip, four different calculations
The final payment from a job settles several things at once, and because they arrive as a single figure people check the total rather than the parts. They are worked out in completely different ways and any one of them can be wrong on its own.
Untaken holiday is paid, not lost
Holiday accrued and not taken by the leaving date has to be paid out. It does not evaporate because you resigned, and it is not a discretionary gesture.
The mirror image also holds: if you have taken more than you had accrued by the time you go, the employer can usually recover it, and usually only where the contract permits the deduction. Both figures are worked out against the leave accrued to the actual leaving date, which is one of several reasons that date is worth getting right rather than agreeing casually.
Deductions need authority, and "they took it off" is not the same as owing it
This is the part nothing else on the site covers and it is where a last payslip most often goes wrong.
An employer can make a deduction where it is required or allowed by law, such as tax and National Insurance, where you agreed to it in writing, or where your contract says they can. Without one of those, it is an unlawful deduction from wages, and that is a specific protection with a route rather than a general grievance.
There are also protections stopping most deductions dragging pay below the National Minimum Wage, with a defined list of exceptions, and a separate cap for retail workers limiting recovery of till shortfalls to ten per cent of gross pay in a pay period.
Training clawbacks and unreturned kit
The two that turn up most are a training cost clawback and a charge for equipment not handed back. Both need the same thing: a clause you agreed to.
And a clause is not automatically enforceable just because it exists. A clawback that reduces over time, in proportion to the benefit the employer actually received, is on considerably stronger ground than one demanding the full course fee back whenever somebody leaves, which starts to look like a penalty rather than a genuine recovery.
Being asked for money is not the same as owing it. The first question is always what you signed.
The P45, and why it matters more than it looks
A P45 reports your pay and tax for the year to date, so it can only be produced once the final payment has been processed. It goes to you, not to your next employer.
Chase it if it does not arrive. Starting a new job without one is what puts people on an emergency code, and an emergency code usually means paying too much tax for a month or two and then having to unwind it. It is a small piece of paper that costs real money to be without.
The leaving date is not a formality
It decides the holiday accrual, it decides whether notice was given properly, and it decides which length-of-service rights you had on the day you went.
That last one can be expensive. Service thresholds are hard edges, and a departure a short time before one is reached is worth understanding before agreeing to a date rather than afterwards. Whether a redundancy is genuine, and what a service anniversary is worth, are both covered properly on the redundancy page.
Where each figure is worked out
Notice period covers what notice is owed and the fact that notice off sick is often paid in full, which almost nobody knows. Holiday pay on leaving handles untaken and overtaken leave and what counts as a day's pay for the purpose.
Redundancy pay covers the calculation, including why it is reckoned backwards and why the cap makes the figure look wrong. And continuous service is the one that decides which rights you had at all, which is the question sitting underneath every figure above.
If any of it is disputed, Acas is free, and early conciliation is a required step before most tribunal claims anyway.
Common questions
What should be in my final pay?
Up to four separate things, and they are commonly mistaken for one figure. Pay for the days actually worked in the final period. Notice, either worked or paid in lieu of. Any untaken holiday accrued in the leave year, which has to be paid out rather than lost. And statutory redundancy pay where the reason for leaving was redundancy and you qualify. Each is calculated differently, which is why a final payslip is worth checking line by line rather than glancing at the total.
Can my employer deduct money from my final pay?
Only with authority for it. gov.uk sets out that a deduction can be made where it is required or allowed by law, such as tax and National Insurance, where you agreed to it in writing, or where your contract says they can. Absent one of those, taking money off is an unlawful deduction from wages, which is a specific protection with a route to a tribunal. There are also rules preventing most deductions taking pay below the National Minimum Wage.
Can they charge me back for training I did?
Only if there is a clause and you agreed to it, and even then the clause has to be reasonable rather than a penalty. Training cost clawbacks are common and vary enormously in how well they are drafted: one that reduces over time in proportion to the benefit the employer got is on much stronger ground than one demanding the full amount back on any departure. Being asked for money is not the same as owing it, and the first question is always what you actually signed.
What if I have taken more holiday than I have accrued?
The employer can usually recover it, and usually only if the contract allows the deduction. This is the mirror image of untaken leave being paid out, and it catches people who front-load their holiday early in a leave year and then resign. The amount is worked out on the leave accrued to the actual leaving date rather than the whole year, which is why the leaving date matters to the figure as well as to everything else.
When do I get my P45?
After your final pay has been processed, because it reports the pay and tax for the year to date and cannot be produced accurately before the last payment is known. It goes to you rather than to your next employer, and it is worth chasing if it does not arrive, because starting a new job without one is what puts people on an emergency tax code and produces a short-term overpayment of tax that then has to be unwound.
Do I get a reference?
There is no general obligation on an employer to provide one at all, which surprises people who assume it is automatic. Where one is given it has to be fair and accurate, which is why some employers stick to dates and job title, although the belief that they are legally required to limit it to that is simply not true. It is worth asking what the policy is before you leave rather than after, while somebody still has a reason to talk to you.