Payroll services for pubs and bars

Pub payroll combines hospitality’s usual variable hours with two extra layers: tips governed by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act, and a young, casual workforce on age-banded minimum wage rates.

What makes pubs & bars payroll different

• Tronc schemes. Since the Tipping Act, 100 percent of qualifying tips must reach workers under a fair written policy. An independent troncmaster arrangement keeps tips free of National Insurance – worth roughly 23 percent combined employer and employee NI – but only if run correctly through payroll.
• Age-banded rates. 18-20 year olds (£10.85) and 16-17s (£8.00) are common behind the bar; birthdays trigger rate changes mid-year.
• Accommodation offset. Live-in staff pay can only be reduced by the accommodation offset (£11.10 per day in 2026/27) without breaching minimum wage.
• Casual and zero-hours holiday. Accrued at 12.07 percent of hours worked – an easy thing to get wrong manually.

What to look for in a provider

Choose a provider with a real tronc capability (some, including IRIS’s Troncmasters service, specialise in it), age-band automation and weekly run pricing.

Pricing follows the wider market – see what outsourcing costs (£4 – £10 per employee per month fully managed) – but sector add-ons matter more than the headline rate, so always compare like-for-like quotes.