How Welsh public sector payroll software handles bilingual payslips

What to take away

• Payroll software for Welsh public bodies must produce bilingual payslips because the Welsh language standards make Welsh a legal requirement in public services.
• The standards are issued by the Welsh Language Commissioner and apply to named public bodies, including councils, health boards and Welsh Government departments.
• Payslip content is set by the Employment Rights Act 1996 and HMRC rules, so bilingual payslips must show the same figures and items in both languages.
• RTI reporting stays in the software's data format, but the payslip itself can be bilingual.
• Test bilingual output before the first live payday: check fonts, sorting, PDF text and employee self-service.

What Welsh language standards require of public bodies

Under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, a set of duties known as the Welsh language standards was created. They replaced the older Welsh Language Schemes and are issued by the Welsh Language Commissioner. Public bodies named in the standards must treat Welsh no less favourably than English when they provide services to the public in Wales.

The standards are grouped by topic. The service delivery standards cover correspondence, telephone calls, meetings, public documents and IT systems. The policy making standards cover how a body writes and reviews its policies. The operational standards cover internal matters such as staff training and internal communications.

For payroll teams, the key point is that a payslip is a document issued to an employee. If the body must provide documents in Welsh, the payslip is caught. The standards do not say 'payslip' in every line, but they do say that documents given to a person must be available in Welsh when the person asks for Welsh.

Some bodies must provide a bilingual service proactively, without waiting for a request. Others must comply when a Welsh speaker asks. The exact duty depends on the standards that apply to that body. A council in Gwynedd or a health board covering Ynys Môn will usually have stronger duties than a body with few Welsh speakers on its staff.

Welsh public bodies include the Welsh Government, local councils, NHS Wales health boards and trusts, and many arm's length bodies. Schools, further education colleges and some housing associations can also be named. Each body has a compliance notice listing which standards apply.

The Welsh Language Commissioner can investigate complaints and issue enforcement notices. A body that ignores its standards can face a compliance notice and, in the last resort, a court order. Payroll is not exempt because it is back office work. If the payslip reaches an employee, it is part of service delivery.

In practice, most Welsh public bodies now offer a bilingual payslip as standard. Some offer a choice of language in the employee self-service portal. Others issue a payslip with both languages side by side. Both approaches can meet the standards if the Welsh is accurate and the layout is readable.

How payslip rules interact with bilingual requirements

Payslip content is set by the Employment Rights Act 1996, which gives employees the right to an itemised pay statement. The Act sets out what must be shown, including gross pay, net pay and any deductions. It applies across the UK, including Wales.

HMRC adds its own requirements through the Running payroll guidance. The payslip must show certain items, and the employer must run PAYE and report through Real Time Information.

The GOV.UK payslip guidance explains what must be shown on a payslip, including the employer name, the employee name, the pay period, gross pay, deductions and net pay.

The bilingual requirement does not change those items. It changes the language in which they appear. A bilingual payslip must show the same gross pay, the same tax deduction and the same net pay in both languages. The figures must match exactly. Two versions of the same payslip cannot show different amounts.

Some items are easier to translate than others. 'Gross pay' becomes 'cyflog gros' or 'cyfanswm cyflog'. 'Tax' becomes 'treth'. 'National Insurance' is often left as 'National Insurance' or shown as 'Yswiriant Gwladol'. 'Net pay' becomes 'cyflog net'. A good payroll system uses a controlled glossary so the same term is used every time.

There is no legal requirement for the payslip to be bilingual in the same way that there is a legal requirement for it to show deductions. The bilingual duty comes from the Welsh language standards, not from the Employment Rights Act 1996.

A private employer in Wales with no standards duty can issue an English-only payslip. A Welsh public body with a standards duty cannot.

If a body is covered by the standards and an employee asks for a Welsh payslip, the body should provide one. If the payroll software cannot produce one, the body is in breach. That is why bilingual payslip output is a procurement question, not just a translation question.

RTI reporting is separate. RTI submissions to HMRC are made in a data format, usually XML, and the language of the payslip does not change the RTI data. The employer still reports the same pay and tax figures. The GOV.UK running payroll overview sets out the employer's payroll and RTI duties.

The UK rule areas that reach into payroll software, from PAYE to auto-enrolment, all sit alongside the bilingual duty. None of them is waived because a payslip is issued in two languages.

Software capabilities needed for bilingual payslips

Not every payroll package sold in the UK can produce a bilingual payslip. Some can, but only with a custom template. Others need a translation file that the employer maintains. A few have Welsh language packs built in. When you assess payroll software, ask for a live demonstration of a Welsh payslip, not a screenshot.

Key capabilities to check:

• Welsh language interface for employee self-service, not just the payslip PDF
• Bilingual payslip template with Welsh and English labels on the same page or on separate pages
• A controlled glossary so terms such as 'gross pay' and 'net pay' are translated consistently
• Welsh character support, including the circumflex in 'tâl' and the digraph 'dd' and 'll'
• Correct sorting of Welsh names in reports, using Welsh collation rules
• Language preference stored on the employee record and applied to every payslip
• Ability to produce a Welsh-only payslip for employees who ask for one
• Audit trail showing which language version was issued and when

The template matters. A payslip is a narrow document. If you put two languages side by side, the columns can become cramped. A common approach is a single payslip with Welsh labels first and English labels below, or a two-page PDF with Welsh on page one. Both work if the figures are identical.

The employee record should hold a language preference. That preference should drive the payslip, the P60 and any other pay document. If the employee changes their preference, the next pay run should use the new language without a manual override.

Data protection matters too. A bilingual payslip contains the same personal data as an English one. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) rules on GDPR apply. Do not email a bilingual payslip to a personal address unless the employee has agreed and the body has a lawful basis.

The employing people hub on GOV.UK covers contracts and payroll duties, and it is a useful starting point for HR teams reviewing their processes.

If you are comparing suppliers, a payroll quality checklist helps you ask the same questions of each vendor. Ask about Welsh language support, template editing, glossary control and the cost of a language pack. Some suppliers charge extra for a Welsh template. Others include it in the standard package.

Implementation is where bilingual projects often slip. A rehearsed cutover, with a parallel run in both languages, catches template errors before the first live payday. Do not leave the Welsh template until the week before go-live.

Reporting and record keeping in two languages

Payroll reporting in a bilingual body has two audiences. Managers and finance staff may want English reports. Welsh language officers and some employees may want Welsh reports. The payroll system should be able to produce both from the same data.

Standard reports include the payroll summary, the gross to net report, the pension contribution report and the absence report. If the body has a Welsh language standards duty, it may need to show that it can produce these reports in Welsh on request. That does not mean every report is bilingual by default. It means the capability exists.

Record keeping is more demanding. You need to keep a record of which language version of the payslip was issued to each employee. If an employee asks for a Welsh payslip and receives an English one, the audit trail should show why. If the body is investigated by the Welsh Language Commissioner, that record is evidence.

RTI reporting is unaffected by language. The Full Payment Submission and the Employer Payment Summary go to HMRC in the same format regardless of the payslip language. The figures must match the payslip. If the payslip says net pay is a certain amount, the RTI data must agree.

P60 and P45 documents also need thought. A P60 is an end of year summary given to the employee. If the body has a duty to provide documents in Welsh, the P60 may need a Welsh version.

Check whether your software can produce a bilingual P60 or a Welsh P60 on request. Many can produce a bilingual payslip but not a bilingual P60. That gap is worth finding before year end.

The same applies to pension communications. Auto-enrolment duties are regulated by The Pensions Regulator, and the statutory communications have their own wording. A bilingual body may need to provide pension information in Welsh. The payroll system may not generate those letters, but it should pass the right data to the pension provider.

Keep a simple register. For each pay document type, note whether a Welsh version is available, how it is produced and who checks it. That register is useful for internal audit and for any standards review.

Testing bilingual output before the first live payday

Testing is the step that separates a smooth bilingual payroll from a difficult one. Do not test with a single employee. Test with a sample that covers the cases your payroll actually handles.

Worked example: a Welsh council with 1,200 employees runs its first bilingual payday. The payroll team selects 40 test records. Ten have a Welsh language preference, ten have English, ten have student loan deductions, five have attachment of earnings orders and five have maternity pay.

They run the pay calculation, produce payslips in both languages and check every figure against the payroll register. One error is found: the Welsh term for 'student loan' is wrong in the template. The template is corrected and the test is rerun before the live run.

Use these steps:

1. Agree the Welsh glossary with the body's Welsh language officer before you build the template.
2. Build the bilingual payslip template and test it with Welsh characters, long names and long deduction descriptions.
3. Run a parallel payroll for one pay period, producing both English and Welsh payslips for the same employees.
4. Reconcile every figure between the two versions and against the payroll register.
5. Check the employee self-service portal in both languages, including the language toggle and the payslip download.
6. Test the P60, P45 and any pension letters that carry pay data.
7. Record the test results and get sign-off from payroll, HR and the Welsh language officer before the live run.

After go-live, keep checking. Sample a few bilingual payslips each month. Look for missing accents, mixed languages on one line and figures that do not match the RTI submission. A short monthly check catches drift before it becomes a complaint.

If you change payroll software, treat the Welsh template as part of the migration. Export the glossary, the template and the language preference data. Test the new system with the same sample records. A rehearsed cutover is the safest way to move without breaking bilingual output.

Common questions

Do all Welsh employers have to issue bilingual payslips? No. The duty comes from the Welsh language standards, which apply to named Welsh public bodies. A private employer in Wales with no standards duty can issue an English-only payslip.

Can a bilingual payslip show different figures in each language? No. The figures must be identical. Only the labels and any explanatory text change. Gross pay, deductions and net pay must match in both languages and match the RTI submission.

Does RTI reporting need to be in Welsh? No. RTI submissions to HMRC are made in a data format and the language of the payslip does not change the data. The employer reports the same pay and tax figures.

What if our payroll software cannot produce a Welsh payslip? You can ask the supplier for a Welsh template or a language pack. If the software cannot do it, you may need to change supplier or use a translation step outside the payroll system, which is riskier.

Who enforces the Welsh language standards? The Welsh Language Commissioner investigates complaints and can issue enforcement notices. A body that ignores its standards can face a compliance notice and, in the last resort, a court order.

Do we need a bilingual P60 as well as a bilingual payslip? Possibly. The duty depends on the standards that apply to your body. Check whether your software can produce a Welsh or bilingual P60, and test it before year end.