The Labour Code does not specify the form (in contrast to the express provisions for other documents, such as the balance of any account, in Article L.125-5 of the Labour Code) or the way in which the salary slip is to be made available.
It may be inferred by inverse reasoning that, whilst the Labour Code makes no provision for salary slips, whereas it lays down express provisions regarding the form of other documents, this gives the impression that the form and method of notification of the salary can be freely chosen, as long as the purpose of its delivery is fulfilled.
If one refers to the aim pursued by Article L.125-7(1) of the Labour Code, it is necessary to give to the employee a breakdown and a statement of his wages that is as comprehensive as possible.
It is against that informational background that the employer is required each month to deliver to the employee – subject to exceptions expressly mentioned in the Code – an exact and detailed statement of the method of calculation of his wages (more commonly known by the term “salary slip”).
The aim of the salary slip is therefore to explain to the employee the method of calculation of his wages, indicating in particular the working time and the total number of hours work corresponding to the wage paid, the wage rate for hours worked, the hours of overtime worked, Sunday working, public holidays or night work, and any other emolument in cash or in kind.
Thus, the question whether the salary slip must be delivered to the employee by post or by email in no way changes the ability of that document to fulfil the aim assigned to it of providing information. In the same way, the fact that an employee may have to collect his salary slip from his employer’s premises does not deprive the employee of the opportunity to check his wages and therefore does not undermine his right of access to information regarding the calculation of his wages.
The case law confirms the aim of Article L.125-7(1) of the Labour Code of providing information, in so far as the salary slip enables the employee to “verify whether the wage ultimately received corresponds to the wage actually due” (judgment of the Labour Court of 16 June 2008, No 1398/08).
In conclusion, given that the Labour Code mentions only the employer’s obligation to deliver to the employee an exact and detailed statement of the method of calculation of his wages, but gives no other guidance regarding the method of transmission to be used for delivery of that statement, it appears that delivery by email or even person-to-person is entirely valid.
Moreover, such delivery by email is compatible with the aim pursued by the delivery of the salary slip to the employee (that is to say, to enable him to check that the wage paid to him by his employer indeed reflects the work done in the month in question).
In the same sense, neither is there any provision to prevent the salary slip from being made available to the employee at the employer’s registered office, the employee then being required to go there in order to gain access to it. It will nevertheless be important to inform the employee that his salary slip is available and to specify where it can be collected. According to the specific circumstances of each employer, one particular mode of disclosure of the salary slip will probably be more suitable than another.
It is important in any event that the employer makes arrangements for proof to be kept of delivery of the monthly statement, in so far it is incumbent upon him – under Article L.125-7 of the Labour Code – to prove that he has discharged that obligation.