Every payslip is a legal requirement
Section 33 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act requires every employer to give each employee a written payslip on every pay day. This generator includes all the fields the law requires.
What a South African payslip must include
Under Section 33 of the BCEA, every payslip must show the employer's name and address, the employee's name and occupation, the pay period, gross remuneration, each deduction listed separately, and the net amount paid. The generator above is laid out to capture exactly these fields.
PAYE calculation: a worked example
PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is South Africa's income tax deduction system. Here is a worked example for a monthly salary of R8,000, which falls below the tax threshold:
At R8,000 per month (R96,000 per year), the employee is below the effective tax threshold of R99,000 per year (2026/2027, under-65s). The tax of R17,280 is fully offset by the primary rebate of R17,820, so no PAYE is deducted. UIF at 1% (R80) is still deducted.
Worked example: R25,000 per month
Who needs to issue payslips?
- Small businesses with 1 to 10 employees who don't use payroll software
- Households employing domestic workers, gardeners, or au pairs
- Construction companies paying labourers weekly or fortnightly
- Restaurants and shops with part-time staff
- Every employer in South Africa, under the BCEA, without exception
Send payslips automatically with wabill
The generator above gives you a one-off PDF. If you pay the same employees each month and want to stop doing it by hand, wabill creates payslips and sends them straight to each employee's WhatsApp, no email or portal needed. 10 free documents to start, then R150/month.
FAQ
Is this payslip generator free?
Yes. The generator on this page is completely free with no signup. Fill in the employer, employee, earnings, and deductions, then download the payslip as a PDF. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
How do I generate a payslip in South Africa?
Enter your company details, the employee's name and pay period, then add earnings lines (basic salary, overtime, allowances) and deduction lines (PAYE, UIF, pension). The generator shows a live BCEA-compliant payslip you can download or print as a PDF.
Is the payslip BCEA compliant?
Yes. The generated payslip includes every field required by Section 33 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997: employer name and address, employee name and occupation, pay period, gross remuneration, each deduction itemised, and net pay.
Does it calculate PAYE for me?
No. You enter the PAYE and UIF amounts yourself as deduction lines. The worked examples on this page show how to calculate PAYE using SARS tax tables so you know what to enter. The generator handles the professional formatting and totals.
How do I send the payslip to my employee?
Download the PDF and send it however you like. If you want payslips sent automatically to each employee's WhatsApp, wabill does that: create the payslip once and it is delivered to their phone, no email or portal needed.
10 free documents. No card needed.