# Leap year workday **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884 "2003-01-31T16:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/21 "2003-02-01T16:06:28Z")
I’m just stunned he gets overtime for a mere 8 hours over per _year!_ I’ve been salaried for 13 years and have almost never been paid overtime. Heck, last month I did three weeks of ~60 hours each and my paycheck was rock solid. I think this is a gripe over nothing. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/22 "2003-02-01T18:17:05Z")
I posed a similar question in a different thread, but here in the city of LA we are paid biweekly and it’s on an hourly basis. We just get paid and hourly rate \* 80 - (whole slew deductions) for each pay period. There are two months each year when we get three paychecks. For the third check in those months, the deductions vary since some things are deducted on a monthly basis (parking fees, union dues, and health coverage.) For those of you wishing to hit me up for a loan, the “bonus” months are April and June for 2003 ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/23 "2003-02-01T22:28:20Z")
Putting aside for the nonce how astounded I am that a salaried employee would be concerned over this particular issue, I am still utterly, completely confused. You said that the state’s position is: > [@](#): > > you are still a salaried employee and have an unchangeable salary no matter how many days are in any given year. But you also say that your paycheck is literally reduced, ie, your gross pay amounts to fewer dollars, in leap years beginning in March? I guess someone who can put it in simpler terms for me should explain it – there’s still 26 pay periods in a leap year, there just happens to me two extra days “left over” rather than one. Why should there be any change in the amount of paychecks at all? Secondarily, why should this issue be confined to leap years? Aren’t there a variable number of workdays/weekdays from one year to the next, by a variation of 1 or so? Someone help clarify this for my confused brain. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/24 "2003-02-01T22:31:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drpepper \* > \*\*Secondarily, why should this issue be confined to leap years? Aren’t there a variable number of workdays/weekdays from one year to the next, by a variation of 1 or so? Someone help clarify this for my confused brain. \*\* I already did, but again: non-leap years that begin on a weekday have 261 weekdays. Those that begin on a weekend have 260 weekdays. So you are correct - there is a natural variation of one working day per year anyway (for those of us that work weekdays). ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/25 "2003-02-01T23:10:03Z")
Indeed you did **amarone** , thank you for pointing that out. I’d still like clarification from the OP: is this “extra workday” business that **amarone** outlined above an issue also? Do you think it should be? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/26 "2003-02-01T23:58:02Z")
> [@](#): > > But you also say that your paycheck is literally reduced, ie, your gross pay amounts to fewer dollars, in leap years beginning in March? I guess someone who can put it in simpler terms for me should explain it – there’s still 26 pay periods in a leap year, there just happens to me two extra days “left over” rather than one. Why should there be any change in the amount of paychecks at all? I’ll try to explain what happens. Say my pay rate is $62,000 per year. If there are 261 weekdays that year, I’ll get about $237.55 a day or $2375.47 per biweekly check for ten working days. If there are 260 workdays, I’ll get about $238.46 per day or $2384.61 per biweekly paycheck. A paycheck that crosses over years will have two days at $237.55 and 8 days at $238.47 for a total of $2382.86. There has to be a change either in the amount of the biweekly paycheck **or** a change in the amount of pay per year. New York keeps the yearly pay the same and adjusts the amount of the biweekly paycheck. The reduction doesn’t only last for ten months, it lasts for a whole year. It might begin Aptil 1 because that’s the start of NY’s fiscal year. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/27 "2003-02-02T04:37:29Z")
Thank you, **doreen** for the concise recap… I’m going to have to chew on that for awhile! ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/28 "2003-02-02T12:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drpepper \* > \*\*Indeed you did **amarone** , thank you for pointing that out. I’d still like clarification from the OP: is this “extra workday” business that **amarone** outlined above an issue also? Do you think it should be? \*\* See my previous post. Apparently, New York makes it a non-issue by moving holidays to weekends. Why they don’t do that for leap years (just make all years have the same amount of workdays), I don’t know, but maybe it’s a tradition that has become part of contract law. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/29 "2003-02-02T14:14:11Z")
> [@](#): > > See my previous post. Apparently, New York makes it a non-issue by moving holidays to weekends. Why they don’t do that for leap years (just make all years have the same amount of workdays), I don’t know, but maybe it’s a tradition that has become part of contract law. Actually, we get twelve holidays every year. For ten, the offices close. For two (usually Lincoln’s Birthday and Election Day), we get a day of holiday leave to take when we want to. For the other holidays, if they fall on a weekend, either they are observed on the following day or we get a day of holiday leave. But we always get 12 paid days off for holidays. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/30 "2003-02-02T15:46:55Z")
Doesn’t this whole problem just boil down to the incongruity of setting one’s pay on an annual basis but paying the person on a bi-weekly basis when the two don’t divide out evenly? Where I work there are both hourly and salaried people. The hourly folk are paid bi-weekly and salaried folk are paid semi-monthly. The OP employer’s way is senseless. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/31 "2003-02-02T15:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flex727 \* > \*\*Doesn’t this whole problem just boil down to the incongruity of setting one’s pay on an annual basis but paying the person on a bi-weekly basis when the two don’t divide out evenly? Where I work there are both hourly and salaried people. The hourly folk are paid bi-weekly and salaried folk are paid semi-monthly. The OP employer’s way is senseless. \*\* Bit of a hi-jack, but do other countries outside the US pay bi-weekly? I’m from the UK, where salaried people are paid monthly and then you don’t get problems - you just divide by 12. I work in the US, but as it is a British company, we still pay monthly. That works fine for me - almost all the regular bills you pay are monthly anyway. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/32 "2003-02-02T16:58:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Doesn’t this whole problem just boil down to the incongruity of setting one’s pay on an annual basis but paying the person on a bi-weekly basis when the two don’t divide out evenly? Where I work there are both hourly and salaried people. The hourly folk are paid bi-weekly and salaried folk are paid semi-monthly. The OP employer’s way is senseless Actually, the problem seems to be that the OP doesn’t realize that his pay is set on an annual basis, not an hourly basis, even though he is not a salaried employee in the way most people are taking it. He does get paid for overtime, and if he leaves early one day ,he is supposed to either use his leave time or if he has none, his pay will be docked. He is salaried only in the sense that his pay rate is quoted on a yearly basis. I don’t really think it’s a big problem, because in the ten years I have worked for the state of NY, I have never heard a single person make this complaint. As for why the pay is set on an annual basis, I can only speculate but- 1. Many members of this union (including me) are not eligible for overtime.They can’t set my pay at an hourly rate, because I am paid the same whether I work my normal workweek or an extra twenty hours. 2. The following is a description of who is represented by this union > [@](#): > > The PS&T Unit is composed primarily of professional and technical personnel. Professional experience, a license, or a degree is usually a prerequisite to being hired to most titles in this Unit. The PS&T Unit includes titles such as Attorney, Nurse, Accountant, Social Worker, and Teachers in institutions, and is represented by the Public Employees Federation (PEF), AFL-CIO. Many of those jobs don’t set pay on an hourly basis in the private sector. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/33 "2003-02-02T17:36:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by doreen \* > \*\*Actually, we get twelve holidays every year. For ten, the offices close. For two (usually Lincoln’s Birthday and Election Day), we get a day of holiday leave to take when we want to. For the other holidays, if they fall on a weekend, either they are observed on the following day or we get a day of holiday leave. But we always get 12 paid days off for holidays. \*\* Some of the floating holidays are only for certain bargaining units, apparently. Look at the holidays for [2000](http://www.cs.state.ny.us/announ/attendance_leave/2000_legal_holidays.htm), why is Veteran’s Day listed on Saturday Nov. 11, but listed as Monday Nov. 12 the [next year](http://www.cs.state.ny.us/announ/attendance_leave/2001_legal_holidays.htm)? And New Years was on a Saturday in 2000. Did you get January 3rd off? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/34 "2003-02-02T18:43:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Some of the floating holidays are only for certain bargaining units, apparently. Look at the holidays for 2000, why is Veteran’s Day listed on Saturday Nov. 11, but listed as Monday Nov. 12 the next year? And New Years was on a Saturday in 2000. Did you get January 3rd off? Apparently, they listed Veteran’s Day as Monday November 12 ,2000 because holidays that fall on Sunday are observed on Monday , and since some units don’t have it as a floating holiday, that’s when they observe it. Saturday holidays generally result in earning holiday leave rather than being observed on another day. I didn’t get January 3, 2000 off but I did get a extra day of leave to take whenever I chose to. Which means I still got a day off with pay for Jan 1, even though I wasn’t scheduled to work that day. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/35 "2003-02-02T19:07:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by doreen \* > \*\*I didn’t get January 3, 2000 off but I did get a extra day of leave to take whenever I chose to. Which means I still got a day off with pay for Jan 1, even though I wasn’t scheduled to work that day. \*\* Are you sure? Wouldn’t that make it a floating holiday? It’s not listed as such on that webpage. Isn’t there a state webpage that explains all this somewhere, I haven’t been able to find it–other than the actual lists. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/36 "2003-02-02T22:05:54Z")
Sure there is- although it wasn’t easy to find (it’s on the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations site) [http://www.goer.state.ny.us/orientation/leaves.html#holidays](http://www.goer.state.ny.us/orientation/leaves.html#holidays) The only real difference between a holiday that falls on a Saturday and a floating holiday is that offices are still open and have to be staffed on a floating holiday. ---
**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/37 "2003-02-03T02:56:33Z")
I am aware that I am a salaried yearly employee. I have worked for NYS for 28 years and over the last 10 this issue has come up at least in the Office of Mental Health at my facillity. Everyone who has responded has provided me with a great deal of information and I really appreciate it. I have been a delegate to 20 of the PEF conventions and during the last five years I have submitted a resolution about this issue each year. My point is this: If you work an extra day during a leap year you should not have your remaing yearly paychecks reduced to pay for that day. If I were to work one additional day of overtime I would be paid for that day even though I am a salaried employee. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/38 "2003-02-03T04:22:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I am aware that I am a salaried yearly employee. But you don’t seem to understand what it means, or at least don’t accept it. If your salary is set on a yearly basis you are paid a certain amount per year, leap year or not. Just like rent is the same regardless of the number of days in a month. You don’t pay more rent in March than in February because rent is set on a monthly basis not a daily one. Hourly employees are paid by the hour, and per diem employees are paid by the day. They will be paid more in years including an extra work day. You are paid by the year, whether the year has 365 or 366 days. The only way you can solve your issue is to get PEF to negotiate a change to hourly or per-diem. Which may have ramifications you aren’t aware of. And the additional pay you get for overtime is not because you worked an extra day in the year- it’s because you worked an extra day in a particular week- the extra day in a leap year doesn’t put you over your regular schedule in any one week, which is necessary for FLSA to kick in. So in summary, Your contract sets your salary on a yearly basis and you are apparently being paid the correct yearly amount in both leap years and non- leap years (since you haven’t said anything about about the yearly total being off). You have no right under FLSA to be paid overtime, because the extra day does not bring any single week over 40 hours. What justification do you have to expect to be paid on an hourly or per-diem basis when your job is a salaried position? Do you pay your landlord or cable company a little extra in months that have 31 days? Or even just in February of a leap year? If not, how exactly is that different? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/39 "2003-02-03T11:20:18Z")
insider, doreen pointed out (02-01-2003 06:58 PM) that the contract year starts in April. Is that when the size of the checks changes, or does it actually happen in March? ---
**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884/40 "2003-02-03T15:48:54Z")
The biweekly gross went down starting the last paycheck in 1999 in preparation for 2/29/00. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-year-workday/151884.md?page=1)