An employee code is the reference an employer assigns to each employee to identify them within its own payroll. It is an internal number, chosen by the employer, not issued by SARS or any bank.
What it means
Names are not unique and can change, so payroll uses a stable code to tie all of an employee's records together - their pay history, leave, contract and banking details. The format is the employer's choice. It is unrelated to the employee's income tax number, which is a SARS reference, and to any SARS source or nature-of-person code.
Where it fits in
The employee code appears on the payslip and on internal payroll reports, and is how an employee is looked up in the system. It carries no tax meaning and is not reported to SARS as a tax identifier - the income tax number does that job.
Key rules
- An internal, employer-assigned identifier for an employee.
- Format is the employer's choice; only uniqueness within the payroll matters.
- Unrelated to the SARS income tax number or any source or person code.
- Used on payslips and internal reports to reference the employee.
