27 Paychecks in a Year? What You Need to Know Serving Those Who Serve

The more frequently you receive your paycheck, the more frequently you can get your finances in order. The employee-reservist must provide their employing agency with a copy of their military orders. The employing agency will determine whether the employee-reservist meets the conditions described above. Section 751 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111-8, March 11, 2009) added section 5538 to title 5, United States Code. Many employers choose to use payroll software or work with a payroll service provider to help automate paying their employees.

• If you get paid weekly, there are several times each year you’ll take home five paychecks in a month instead of the usual four.
• You’re not required to pay salaried employees more than their annual salary in years when you have extra pay periods.
• As we approach the new year, it’s essential to plan ahead, especially regarding your finances.
• Employees typically receive 26 pay cheques per year with a biweekly pay schedule.
• Ultimately, each Federal agency is responsible for complying with the law and regulations and following OPM’s policies and guidance to administer pay policies and programs for its own employees.
• It is easier to withhold taxes with biweekly since there are fewer pay dates than compared to a weekly pay schedule.

For example, an employee who makes $1000 per month will only receive $500 per paycheck on a biweekly schedule. This may be a disadvantage for those that rely cannot manage their expenses. Employees who receive biweekly paychecks have 26 pay periods in one year.

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If you’re not sure how often you get paid, check your pay stubs or ask your HR department. Understanding your pay frequency is one of the simplest ways to take control of your finances. When you spend hours each day with your colleagues and employees, you naturally get to know them… If your first paycheck of 2025 was received on January 10th, you’ll receive three paychecks in May and October. If your first paycheck of 2025 was received on January 3rd, you can expect three paychecks in January and August.

It could also include certain career-ladder promotion increases and performance-based basic pay increases, if the reasonable certainty standard is met. You can just bank that extra paycheck into a savings account or add it to your investments. In most cases, your employees’ benefits deductions are calculated based on 26 or 52 pay periods.

• Employers with biweekly payroll are able to more quickly re-adjust their pay to make up for any issues with employee payroll.
• This includes more consistent behavior like taking on overtime to more consistent behavior like paying rent on time.
• Use the Add by URL function to import an ICS file of the GSA payroll calendar to your Google calendar.
• Ultimately, biweekly pay periods are the most common type across different industries and firm sizes.

Here’s a breakdown of what this will look like for the most common payroll schedules. Biweekly pay refers to a system of paying employees’ salaries every two weeks. The Biweekly pay schedule typically ends up being about twice a month interval, which translates to 26 paychecks per year.

Employers also should consider the possible impact on employer and employee benefit contributions. For example, employees who contribute a percentage of each paycheck to a 401 or flexible spending account program are limited by annual caps. This will result in smaller employee checks each payday, countered by an extra paycheck at year’s end. Employers electing this option should ensure compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and any relevant state wage laws, Trabold said. Hile February typically has 28 days, in leap years—such as 2020—it sprouts a 29th. That can be a headache for HR and payroll professionals—resulting in an extra payday in the calendar year, depending on when and how employees are paid.

As a result, many employees who are paid bi-weekly will receive an extra paycheck this month. This additional paycheck can be a welcome boost to your finances, providing you with extra money to pay down debt, save for retirement, or simply enjoy the fall season. The table below provides the biweekly and annual premium pay caps for 2023 by locality pay area.

January 2025: A Month with Three Paydays

Certain special rate employees may have a higher biweekly premium pay cap at GS-15, step 10, than that shown in the table. The biweekly premium pay cap for such employees must be computed using the procedures in the “Computation” section below. Locality rates under 5 U.S.C. 5304 and special rates under 5 U.S.C. 5305 for most GS employees are capped at the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule (EX-IV), which is $183,500 in 2023.

Additional Considerations

You’re not required to pay salaried employees more than their annual salary in years when you have extra pay periods. Some employers choose to reduce pay across all paychecks for the year to adjust for the extra payday. When following a semi-monthly payroll schedule, employees are consistently paid twice per month. While the specific dates will how many pay periods in 2021 stay the same each month, such as paying on the 5th and 20th of every month, the actual “payday” will vary. For biweekly pay periods, divide the annual salary by 27 instead of 26.

Likely to Be Paid Less:

You can deal with this by being more explicit about how you used the system, or by embracing it with a company-wide meeting if you have employees who are new to you. Psychologically, biweekly pay can encourage employees to change their behavior for the better. This includes more consistent behavior like taking on overtime to more consistent behavior like paying rent on time. Employers with biweekly payroll are able to more quickly re-adjust their pay to make up for any issues with employee payroll. Employees need to be more conscious that they will only get paid every other week instead of once a month. While it’s still possible to manage expenses with biweekly pay, it’s more work than with traditional weekly pay.

January

When I did more research, I learned that this is called a “payroll leap year” and it can result in one more payday than normal. To make the most of these months with an extra Friday, let’s look deeper into this issue and learn how both employees and employers can plan their schedules accordingly. Enter the start and end dates of the pay period into the calculator to determine the number of days between pay periods. The table below provides the biweekly cap amounts for 2003 by locality pay area. These caps are effective as of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2003.

Follow these instructions Word DOC KB or PDF PDF KB with step-by-step screenshots. When you think of leadership, do you picture corner offices, flashy clothes, and large paydays? Remote work can be one of the most freeing experiences for employees and employers — but only by implementing a culture of time… Like most things in life, calculating the number of weeks isn’t as straightforward as it should be.

Payday will fall on different dates every month so planning ahead is important. You will receive a minimum of 26 and a maximum of 27 paychecks in a year. Use the Add by URL function to import an ICS file of the GSA payroll calendar to your Google calendar.

How many biweekly pay periods left in 2025?

Under this schedule, employees typically have higher paychecks compared to a biweekly pay period. It’s important to note that these employees aren’t actually paid more, and employees with a biweekly schedule will “make up” that money in the months with three paydays. As a result, weekly or biweekly salaried employees paid on either of these days will experience an extra pay period. Exempt employees’ annual salary ordinarily is divided by either 52 or 26 paydays, and W-2 income is their stated salary plus any additional compensation (bonuses, taxable fringe benefits, etc.). While a leap year doesn’t guarantee an additional payday for your employees, it does increase the chances. Reservist differentials should be paid at the same frequency as regular civilian salary payments (e.g., generally on a biweekly basis for executive branch employees).

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The frequency is ultimately determined by the employer unless the workplace or the employees are in a province or territory that has specific payday requirements. It is important for business owners to strike a balance between the cost of running payroll and the financial needs of their staff. Because many regular expenses such as rent, gas, electric, and all those internet and phone bills are due monthly, you’ll likely end up with a little extra cash in your wallet in these off months.