Employers Beware of an Extra Payday in 2026

Biweekly pay periods are the most common (43% of U.S. businesses do it this way). If you use a biweekly pay schedule, typically you have 26 paydays in the year. But if payments are figured by dividing the annual salary by 26 and are set for payment on a specific day, then because of the way the calendar runs, there will be 27 biweekly paydays in 2026 (this happens about once every dozen years or so). How to avoid the extra payday: use a formula that multiplies the annual salary by 14/365 or divide it by 27. Check state law to determine if there are special rules on communicating changes in how pay periods are figured. #IdeaoftheDay