Many companies use technically complete payslips, but these are difficult for employees to understand. The Supreme Court has just warned that this practice may violate Article 29 of the Workers' Statute when the payslip forces the employee to perform external calculations to understand what they are actually being paid.
For years, many companies have considered a payslip sufficient as long as it clearly showed salary components, deductions, and the final amount to be received. The problem is that, over time, compensation systems have become incredibly complex. Variable pay, incentives, performance-based bonuses, back pay, sick leave, reduced working hours, and performance-based bonuses have made some payslips extremely difficult to interpret.
And that is precisely where the recent Supreme Court (TS) ruling 285/2026, of March 24, comes in.
The ruling, issued in a collective dispute against the Renfe Group, makes a rather compelling point. Clear payslips are not merely an aesthetic matter or a minor formality. They are a legal obligation directly linked to the worker's right to understand and verify how their salary has been calculated.
The Supreme Court considers it insufficient for the company to simply reflect codes, keys or amounts if the worker cannot easily identify which period each amount corresponds to, which days have been taken into account, what incidents have affected the calculation or how a certain variable payment has been determined.
The ruling has far more significance than it may initially seem because it directly affects the way many companies currently structure their payrolls.
- Attention. Salary transparency is now considered a real and verifiable obligation. Overly technical payroll models can generate labor disputes. Variables, late payments, and incidents will be the items most subject to review.
The company cannot transfer the obligation to perform calculations to the employee
One of the most significant aspects of the entire ruling is that the Supreme Court expressly rejects a practice quite common in many organizations: the idea that employees can "reconstruct" their payslips themselves using external data or by performing additional calculations.
In the case analyzed, the company argued that the workers were fully aware of their sick days, their workdays or the incidents suffered and that, therefore, they could verify if the salary was correct by carrying out the corresponding operations.
The Supreme Court responds quite forcefully. Employees cannot be forced to independently monitor salary parameters, percentages, accrual periods, or perform complex mathematical calculations to verify whether the company has correctly processed their payroll.
This represents a significant shift in approach. The ruling clarifies that the obligation of transparency lies with the company and that the payslip must be self-explanatory, without requiring the use of separate applications, external records, internal manuals, or additional explanations.
To put it much more simply, the payroll should practically explain itself.
The problem isn't in including many concepts, but in not explaining how they are calculated
One of the most interesting aspects of the ruling is that the Supreme Court acknowledges that the payroll model used by Renfe was comprehensive and detailed from a formal standpoint. In fact, it included numerous technical data and multiple salary references. However, that wasn't enough.
The National Court, a decision fully upheld by the Supreme Court, found that certain variable items, back pay, and incidents made it impossible to clearly understand essential aspects of salary calculations. For example:
- To what specific dates did certain delays correspond?.
- What exact days were being paid?.
- Whether the amount was in full or partial.
- How IT situations, strikes, or contract suspensions affected them.
- What time units were used in certain functional complements.
And that is precisely the true message of this ruling. The problem is no longer just what appears on the payslip, but whether it truly allows one to understand the origin and calculation of each amount.
This forces many companies to rethink something that, until now, was barely examined from a legal perspective: the actual comprehensibility of the payslip.
- Attention. The payslip must clearly show not only what is being paid, but also how it is calculated. Variable components will require a more detailed breakdown. The more complex the compensation system, the greater the legal risk.
The ruling will particularly affect companies with complex salary systems
Although the specific case affects the Renfe Group, the doctrine established by the Supreme Court has a much broader scope and will likely have a significant impact on companies that work with complex salary structures.
Sectors with frequent variables, productivity bonuses, commercial incentives, functional bonuses, remuneration linked to effective presence or calculation systems with time lags are especially sensitive to this new jurisprudential criterion.
Often, the payrolls of these organizations end up accumulating internal codes, abbreviations, technical references, or summarized concepts that are understandable to HR departments but not necessarily to the person receiving the salary.
And that is precisely what the Supreme Court seeks to prevent. The ruling insists that salary transparency cannot become a burden of interpretation for the employee. On the contrary, it must facilitate a simple, immediate, and reasonably understandable verification of the salary received.
Therefore, many companies will likely need to review:
- Their payroll software.
- The levels of breakdown used.
- The identification of accrual periods.
- References to delays or incidents.
- The explanation of variables and complements.
And in some cases the changes will not be minor.
Salary transparency is starting to become a source of litigation
The Supreme Court's ruling is not limited to a purely documentary matter. It also has a significant evidentiary and procedural impact.
Because when a payslip doesn't adequately explain how a particular amount was calculated, the chances of subsequent conflict increase considerably. Salary differences, discrepancies regarding variable compensation, claims related to sick leave, reduced working hours, or back pay can all be exacerbated precisely by this lack of clarity.
Furthermore, the ruling raises another important issue. An insufficiently transparent payroll can ultimately weaken a company's ability to later prove the accuracy of its calculations. This is especially problematic in collective bargaining proceedings or mass wage claims.
The underlying idea of the entire resolution is quite clear. The company must be able to demonstrate not only how much it pays, but also how it calculates and communicates that amount.
Supreme Court ruling 285/2026 will likely force many organizations to review something that, until now, was rarely questioned: the true comprehensibility of their payslips. From now on, the issue will no longer be simply whether the payslip contains all the required items. It will also matter whether it truly allows employees to understand how the final amount shown each month was calculated.
Reviewing payroll models and adapting compensation systems to the new transparency criteria set by the Supreme Court can prevent salary disputes, strengthen the company's legal security, and reduce risks in the face of future individual or collective claims.
You can contact this professional office for any questions or clarifications you may have.
Warm regards,
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A Àmbit Assessor, SL has 40 years dedicated to the tax, comptable and labor consultancy of the Pime.
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