How to read your ESR payslip

Many trusts in England produce payslips from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Here is what the columns on an enhancement line mean, and how to match them to your shifts.

Sources: Royal United Hospitals Bath, Understanding your payslip (PDF), and Society of Radiographers, Understanding your payslip (Starting out 25/26), both accessed 28 October 2026. Layouts vary between trusts. For staff on NHS Agenda for Change terms in England. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the NHS.

The four columns

Columns in the Pay and Allowances section
Column	What it means
Wkd/Earned	"Total hours worked" (RUH). For an enhancement line, the hours you worked in that unsocial period.
Paid/Due	"Number of hours payment is calculated on" (RUH). For an enhancement line, the hours worked multiplied by the enhancement percentage.
Rate	"Amount the allowance is calculated on, e.g., hourly rate" (RUH). Often your basic hourly rate, sometimes shown to four decimal places.
Amount	The pounds paid for that line: Paid/Due × Rate.

An example line

The RUH sample payslip (Band 5 staff nurse) shows this line:

Sample enhancement line, RUH
Description	Wkd/Earned	Paid/Due	Rate	Amount
Night Duty EN	2.00	0.60	16.1270	9.68

2.00 hours worked at night.
2.00 × 30% = 0.60 hours of pay due (the Band 5 rate for weekday nights).
0.60 × £16.1270 = £9.68.

The Society of Radiographers puts it this way:

"if a radiographer receives a 30% enhancement for working a night duty, the hours worked (45.5) are multiplied by the rate due (30%) to give the hours to be paid (13.65)."

"Enhancement entries are shown as the proportion of the total hours worked, multiplied by the basic hourly rate of pay."

Common line labels

Labels differ between trusts. These appear in the two sources above:

Unsocial EN, Night Duty EN, Saturday EN, Sunday EN: unsocial hours enhancement lines.
Saturday OT, Weekday OT: overtime, which follows different rules (Section 3).
On Call - Weekday: on-call payments, set by local agreement.

Abbreviations explained in the RUH guide:

EN: "Enhancement payment (e.g., unsocial)"
OT: "Overtime payment (e.g., Saturday)"
ARRS: "Arrears payment"
NP: "Non-Pensionable"
OSP: "Occupational Sick Pay"

Which month's shifts are on this payslip?

"Basic pay for contracted staff is for the current month. Additional payments will usually relate to the previous month." (Society of Radiographers)

So the enhancement lines on your October payslip usually relate to shifts worked in September. If your payslip has an arrears (ARRS) line, it may include hours from earlier months.

Checking a line against your rota

Add up the hours you worked on Saturdays and on weekday nights (8pm to 6am) in the month the payslip covers. Remember the more-than-half rule for weekday evening and night shifts.
Separately, add up your hours on Sundays and public holidays.
Compare each total with the Wkd/Earned figure on the matching enhancement lines.
If the figures differ, check whether any shifts were overtime, bank, on-call or leave, which are paid differently. If you still see a difference, check with your payroll team or line manager.

Rota Pay Check does these steps for you, shift by shift, on your iPhone. Read unsocial hours explained for the rules behind each step, or see every source we use.