The Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets out what a payslip has to contain. The employer name and address, the employee name and occupation, the period the payment covers, the ordinary and overtime hours worked, the pay rate and overtime rate, total gross pay, each deduction listed on its own, and the net amount actually paid.
The part employers most often get wrong is that last requirement about deductions. Each one has to appear separately. PAYE, UIF and anything else must each have their own line with their own amount. A single combined figure labelled "deductions" does not satisfy the Act, even when the arithmetic is correct, because the employee cannot see what was taken or check it.
If any part of the payment relates to overtime, a Sunday, or a public holiday, the payslip must show enough detail for the employee to work out how that figure was reached. The same applies where an amount was paid to someone else on the employee's behalf, such as a garnishee or a union subscription.
Payslips have to be kept for three years. That obligation sits with the employer, not the employee, and it is the reason a request for an old payslip is a reasonable one.