What a Farm Worker payslip looks like
A typical UK farm worker payslip is paid weekly and shows a basic pay line at the top. A farm worker carries out general and skilled tasks on a farm, from livestock and machinery to harvest operations. The line items below depend on grade, shift pattern and contractual additions, but the structure usually mirrors HMRC's recommended payslip layout: a payments block, a deductions block, a year-to-date column, and a net pay summary.
Common employers in this occupation include arable and livestock farms, agricultural contractors, estates. Each employer runs payroll slightly differently, but the underlying PAYE computation against tax code 1257L and Class 1 National Insurance is identical across the UK (excluding Scotland for income tax). The biggest variability between two farm worker payslips at the same gross will be in the additions block: Mostly PAYE at or near the National Living Wage. Seasonal starters can be put on an emergency code and over-taxed; provided accommodation can only count toward minimum-wage pay up to the statutory offset. Scotland, Wales and NI retain Agricultural Wages Orders setting grade and overtime rates.
Year-to-date columns are critical to verify on this role because the additions and salary sacrifice items change month to month. If your YTD gross divided by months elapsed in the tax year does not match your expected annual run-rate, that is the single best signal that something is mis-coded.
Applies to this work
Agricultural wages orders and the accommodation offset and farm worker pay
Your floor is set by the country the work is in, not by the farm or the employer. In England it is the National Minimum Wage; if you were taken on before 1 October 2013, gov.uk says in one place that the Agricultural Wages (England and Wales) Order 2012 terms are still yours and in another that you keep them only if your contract says so, so read your written statement rather than either page. In Wales the 2025 order puts Grade C at £13.48 an hour. In Scotland Order No. 73 gives overtime as a formula, the basic rate multiplied by 1.5. In Northern Ireland Order No 106 puts the Agricultural Worker grade at £13.30 and pays overtime at plain time. Same tractor, same crop, four answers.
- National Minimum Wage accommodation offset
- £11.10 a day, £77.70 a week
- When the offset counts for a day
- Only a whole day
Educational only. Whether this reaches your own pay turns on your contract and how you are engaged, and tribunal and claim time limits are short. Check the limit that applies to you before relying on a date.
Agricultural wages orders and the accommodation offset: the rates, the payslip lines, what goes wrong and the 32 primary sources. National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 and the devolved agricultural wages orders, in force 1 April 2026 for the rates and offset.
Applies to some of this work
Term time only pay and holiday pay for part-year workers and farm worker pay
The government's own illustration of a part-year worker is a seasonal farm worker taken on for spring and summer, and the qualification it attaches is that the contract has to show periods of more than a week when she is neither required to work nor paid. That points at a wrinkle worth knowing: regulation 15F(1)(b) wants those unpaid weeks to fall during the term of the contract, so a picker whose engagement ends with the harvest and is re-engaged the following year is a run of short contracts rather than one part-year contract. Which of the two you are on changes whether an uplift with each payment is available and what happens to untaken leave.
- Statutory paid annual leave
- 5.6 weeks
- Accrual rate for irregular hours and part-year workers
- 12.07%
Educational only. Whether this reaches your own pay turns on your contract and how you are engaged, and tribunal and claim time limits are short. Check the limit that applies to you before relying on a date.
Term time only pay and holiday pay for part-year workers: the rates, the payslip lines, what goes wrong and the 17 primary sources. Working Time Regulations 1998, regulations 13A, 15B, 15F, 16 and 16A, as amended by the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1426), and Harpur Trust v Brazel [2022] UKSC 21, in force leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, with Brazel decided 20 July 2022.
Farm Worker salary bands (UK 2024)
ONS ASHE 2024 full-time gross pay. Net figures use 2026/27 PAYE bands and assume 5% of qualifying earnings (£6,240–£50,270) under a net-pay arrangement — before income tax, but not before National Insurance.
| Band | Gross / year | Net / year | Net / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | £21,500 | £18,389 | £1,532 |
| Median | £24,500 | £20,429 | £1,702 |
| 75th percentile | £28,000 | £22,809 | £1,901 |
Common deductions for a Farm Worker
- PAYE income tax.Calculated against tax code 1257L. Cumulative coding means refunds can appear if you start mid-year.
- National Insurance (Class 1).8% between £12,570 and £50,270 of annual earnings, then 2% above. Period-by-period method is standard.
- Pension.Auto-enrolment minimum 5% employee on qualifying earnings (£6,240 - £50,270), unless your employer runs a more generous scheme such as the NHS, Teachers Pension or Civil Service alpha.
- Salary sacrifice patterns.Common in this occupation: cycle-to-work, electric-car salary sacrifice, additional pension contributions, and where applicable workplace nursery vouchers (still tax-efficient via pre-existing schemes).
- Union or professional body.Tax-deductible for HMRC-listed bodies. Farm Workers commonly hold subscriptions covered by section 344 ITEPA 2003 (List 3).
Farm Worker payslip FAQ
What is the average Farm Worker salary in the UK in 2024?
According to ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024 for SOC code 5119, the median full-time gross annual salary for a Farm Worker in the UK is approximately £24,500. The 25th percentile sits at £21,500 and the 75th at £28,000.
What is take-home pay on a median Farm Worker salary?
On £24,500 gross with the standard 1257L tax code and 5% of qualifying earnings into a net-pay pension, monthly take-home is approximately £1,702 after PAYE income tax, Class 1 employee National Insurance and auto-enrolment pension. Actual figures vary if you have student loan, salary sacrifice or a non-cumulative tax code.
What is unusual about a Farm Worker payslip?
Mostly PAYE at or near the National Living Wage. Seasonal starters can be put on an emergency code and over-taxed; provided accommodation can only count toward minimum-wage pay up to the statutory offset. Scotland, Wales and NI retain Agricultural Wages Orders setting grade and overtime rates.
Which tax code should a Farm Worker typically be on?
Most people in this role on standard PAYE will see 1257L. Check the prefix and suffix carefully: a K-prefix means deductions exceed your allowance (often after a bonus or P11D benefit), 0T means you have no allowance left at this employer, and BR means basic rate on the whole job (common in second jobs).
Salary estimates: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024, full-time gross annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation. Figures rounded to nearest £100.