Depending on where you work, your pay schedule is weekly, biweekly, or monthly. But how did your employer decide on that schedule? More importantly, which one is best?
Here’s Five Fast Facts on pay schedules:
- 💸 State of Pay - The main factor is the state where you work. It’s probably no surprise that requirements vary from state to state. The most common requirement is at least all pay is semi-monthly, which is 24 pay periods a year.
- 💰 Worst - So what’s an employee’s least preferred pay schedule? That would be monthly. After all, your finances are VERY hard to manage if you’re only paid once a month. Employers love it because of its low cost and it’s ease of management.
- 💵 Favorites - Bi-weekly (26 times a year) and weekly (52) schedules tend to be the most popular among employees. Surprise, surprise: employers hate it because it requires constant management and the expense accrual. How dare we ask the HR executive to earn their inflated salary?
- 🤑 What’s Best for Employees? - One payroll provider says that weekly payroll is ideal for retaining employees because they’re able to easily align work and earnings and it helps those of us who live paycheck to paycheck.
- 📅 So What’s Best Overall? - This is one of those situations that ultimately comes down to the employer (and state laws). They decide what they feel is best for their workforce, but there has been a recent push (especially through payroll processing companies like ADP) for employers to talk with their workforce and find out what fits best.
🔥Bottom line: Why a company uses a specific pay schedule feels like one of those things we just accept without question. Turns out there’s a reason behind it. It also turns out it can tell you what they think of your efforts. Just one more thing to consider during this job-seekers’ market we’re experiencing.
What’s your preferred pay schedule?
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