How to Verify Employment, a Payslip or a P60

Whether you are a landlord screening a tenant, a lender assessing affordability, or an employer checking a new hire, you will sometimes need to confirm that someone earns what they say they earn. The two documents at the centre of this are the payslip and the P60, alongside direct employment verification. Here is what each one proves, how to check it is genuine, and the warning signs that something has been forged.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Verification must be done with the individual's consent and in line with data protection law.

What each document shows

The payslip

A payslip is a record of a single pay period — usually a week or a month. A genuine UK payslip should show:

• The employee's name and the employer's name.
• The pay date and the period it covers.
• Gross pay (before deductions) for the period.
• Deductions: Income Tax (PAYE), National Insurance, pension, student loan, and any others.
• Net pay — the amount actually paid.
• The tax code and National Insurance number.
• Year-to-date totals for pay and deductions.

That last item is the verifier's best friend: year-to-date figures let you sanity-check one payslip against another and against the year-end summary.

The P60

A P60 is an end-of-year certificate summarising everything one employer paid an employee across a full tax year, including total pay, total tax and total National Insurance. Every employee in a job at the end of the tax year should receive one. Because it is a single annual figure, the P60 is the natural anchor to check monthly payslips against: twelve consistent monthly payslips should reconcile to the P60 total.

A payslip is a snapshot; a P60 is the full picture. Used together, each one validates the other — which is exactly why fraudsters struggle to fake both consistently.

How to verify employment

Documents are one form of proof. Confirming the employment itself is another, and often stronger. The main routes are:

1. Direct contact with the employer. A call or email to the company's HR or payroll department, using contact details you have verified independently (not just the number printed on the document). Ask them to confirm the person is employed and, where appropriate, their role and salary band.
2. An employer reference. A written reference on company letterhead confirming employment dates and status.
3. Records the individual shares. People can access and share their own official income and employment information. Because HMRC does not generally confirm individual records to third parties, having the person provide their own documentation is the practical route.
4. Cross-checking against bank statements. Salary credits on a bank statement should match the net pay on payslips, from an employer name that matches.

A reputable referencing or verification service can pull several of these together. For example, business consultancy CM Beyer offers a structured way to verify a payslip, P60 or employment, which illustrates how formal verification typically combines document checks with direct confirmation.

Whichever route you use, get the individual's consent first. Verifying someone's employment involves personal data, so it must be handled lawfully and proportionately.

How to check a document is genuine

Most fakes fail on internal consistency. Work through these checks:

Run the arithmetic yourself. On a real payslip, gross pay minus the listed deductions equals net pay, and the year-to-date columns add up across periods. Forgeries frequently get this wrong.

Warning signs of a fake

Be especially wary of:

• Suspiciously round numbers — real pay and tax rarely land on neat figures after deductions.
• Year-to-date totals that do not add up across consecutive payslips, or that contradict the P60.
• An incorrect, missing or implausible tax code.
• An invalid National Insurance number format.
• Missing employer name, address or company details.
• Fonts or layouts that change between supposedly consecutive payslips.
• Bank statements that do not match the claimed net pay or employer.

No single red flag is proof of fraud — but several together warrant a direct check with the employer.

Doing it lawfully and fairly

Verification sits inside data protection rules. Collect only what you need, use it only for the stated purpose, store it securely, and delete it when it is no longer required. For the wider principles, our explainer on UK GDPR for marketers covers the data-handling basics that apply to any business processing personal information. For employers building these checks into hiring, our guide on how to hire your first employees puts verification in the context of a fair recruitment process.

The bottom line

A payslip proves one pay period; a P60 summarises the whole tax year; together they should reconcile, and that reconciliation is your strongest document check. The most reliable verification, though, is direct — confirming employment with the employer or through records the individual shares, always with consent. Treat round numbers, mismatched totals and wrong tax codes as prompts to dig deeper. A few minutes of cross-checking protects landlords, lenders and employers from the small minority who fake the paperwork.