The pay slip essentially consists of two parts. The top part contains the following information:

• Period the pay slip refers to (which month)
• Name and address of the employer
• Name, address and date of birth of the employee
• Start date of employment
• Tax class and tax identification number

Sometimes the upper part also shows the remaining days of annual leave. But this is not compulsory.

In the main part of the pay slip you see the gross wages with gross pay. So this tells you what your wages consist of: There may be a list of supplements and other payments, for instance in the case of sickness, because then the employer is obliged to continue to pay wages. The various gross payments add up to the total gross amount.

Under the total gross amount, both the deductions for taxes and the deductions for social insurance are listed. The net earnings are calculated after these deductions. In some cases there are also net supplements or net deductions (see: On my pay slip I see that money is deducted. Is that correct?), which are deducted from net earnings. At the bottom of the pay slip is the amount that is transferred to your account. This is called the 'payout amount'.