There are many thoughts that go through your head when you receive your first paycheck. On the one hand, you are elated to have money to spend on yourself without anyone telling you anything, but it may happen that the amount is not what you thought and all those charges that modify the initial amount sound like Chinese.
Don't worry, it's happened to all of us. Today I'm going to tell you a few simple steps so that all of these terms will sound familiar to you and you'll never be caught off guard again.
What is payroll?
Well, your pay stub. It is an important document that should always be reviewed and filed.
It can take different forms, but they must conform to the model established by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs or the one established by the Collective Agreement of the company or sector.
I'm leaving you a PDF at the end with examples of payrolls so you can see what it looks like in practice.
Header
The header contains the company's details (name, registered office, CIF and Social Security number), the employee's details (name and surname, ID, Social Security affiliation number, professional category or job position, and seniority in the company). The payroll settlement period is also indicated.
Body
The gross monthly salary (SM) is the amount agreed between the worker and the company divided by the payments to be made (they can be 12, 14, 16 or others). For example, if your annual salary is €20,000, and you have 12 payments per year, the monthly salary would be equivalent to:
€
This salary is called base salary , since bonuses ( earnings ) for overtime, productivity bonuses, seniority, night work, danger, among others, can be added. There are others that are considered non-salary benefits (money that is added to the payroll for reasons external to the company) such as compensation, transfers, transportation bonus.
Deductions , which are made based on contributions (recurring payments made every month: base salary and supplements, excluding aid for work materials, severance pay, transportation aid, etc. )
Amount paid to Social Security (SS) by the worker. It varies according to the sector and agreement, but is usually 6-7% for temporary or permanent contracts and up to 15% for construction and service.
Here you can consult the contribution bases
3 concepts apply
Common contingencies: non-occupational illnesses and accidents
Training
Unemployment
Overtime
*The company also pays for the worker (this is not charged to the payroll) telemarketing leads canada telephone number data around 30% of his/her salary, but it depends on the type of contract.
IRPF (per capita income tax) It varies according to the amount you earn (if you earn more you pay more), and family circumstances (age, marital status, number of children, disabled people in your care). It is important to remember that, later, when calculating the result of the Income Tax return, all the withholdings made will be deducted, which will result in a lower amount to pay or a higher amount to be returned. For this reason, they are considered a “payment on account”
Extra payments can complicate the payroll at first glance because Social Security is calculated over 12 months and there can be 14 or 16 payments. The SS is not applied to the “extras”, but the IRPF is. Here is a link to an IRPF calculator
And if you are interested in knowing what self-employed workers and companies pay, here is a detailed article
Final part
At the end of the page there is a certification that must be signed by the worker and the company in duplicate (you keep one copy of the contract and the company another).
By means of the payslip, the company certifies that the data it writes are true. In particular, it certifies that it pays a certain amount to Social Security on behalf of the worker, and another to the Treasury (we will see these amounts later). Therefore, the worker must accept this as true, and if the company does not do so, it is the company's problem, not the worker's. It is usual that, when the income tax return is to be made in the spring, the company sends a "withholding certificate", where these concepts are summarized for the entire year. But in the event that the company does not send this "withholding certificate", the payslips for the entire year are sufficient certification: the "withholding certificate" is only a summary of all the payslips.
This is why payslips are stamped by the company and signed by someone with the power to certify this (the CEO or the HR director or someone like that). In practice, many companies today send payslips by email, without a stamp or signature. This email should be kept, as it is usually just as valid as the signed document. If you need it signed (for example, because the bank requires it for a loan), you can ask the HR department for it, which is obliged to give it to you.