On the way to work yesterday, our first day back, I said, “The cool thing about 2009 is that there are three months where we have three paydays.”
“Bwah?” the guy in my carpool asked. “There are 52 weeks in a year. 52 weeks divided by two weeks per paycheck makes 26 paychecks. Twelve months times two paychecks month makes 24, with two left over; there are only two months where we have three paydays.”
“Six pack?” I said*.
“Six pack.”
So, looking at the 2009 calender, December and July inarguable have three paydays and three paychecks. We get paid on Thursdays, and January 29 and Jan 15 are paydays. January 1 was on a Thursday, but since it was a holiday, our checks are dated 12/31/08.
So, who wins the bet?
*Our standard bet. I’m up 12 or 18 right now. I forget, but we go back and forth. It doesn’t really matter; whoever has cash usually buys a six pack or burritos in the morning. We don’t keep track, but it seems to work out. It’s more of a pride thing, I guess.
Your friend is wrong in one respect: a year has 52 weeks and 1 day, meaning that approximately every 7 years (leap year throws it off in the particular, but it averages out that way), you’ll have 53 Thursdays in a year; with a biweekly-on-Thursday pay schedule, every 14 years you’ll have a 27th paycheck on the calendar.
On the other hand, looks to me like you were wrong: it was 2008 that had the extra paycheck, given the thing with the calendar.
Y’all need to define what constitutes a payday. If it’s the day that the check is dated, your friend wins the paycheck. A different definition might give it to you.
This is the crux of the argument. If the normal payday is on a holiday, and the check is cut the day before, is payday early, or do you just get your paycheck early. He’s riding on the former, I’m riding on the later.
I think you lose this one. It looks like only December 2009 and July 2009 have three pay days - January 2009 only has two (29 and 15). If the check is dated 12/31/08 then it should count towards 2008.
If you can convince your friend otherwise enjoy the six pack, but I’d fight you to the death over it
In this case, it seems that you both are wrong, so you both should lose. If you receive a check on Dec 31 that’s dated Dec 31, then payday was Dec 31. It may have been moved to Dec 31, from Jan 1, but Dec 31 is the official payday.
OTOH, your friend’s math is clearly wrong, because given a Thursday payday, beginning on Jan 1, 2009, there are enough Thursdays to have 27 paydays, not the 26 he is assuming.
I think you should win this one, since the normal payday would have fallen on 1/1/09, and there are clerarly enough Thursdays in the year for 3 “extra” checks.
Santo Rugger’s friend wins, although for the wrong reason, I’m afraid–it *could *happen. But not in 2009. The bet is that there are 27 paydays in 2009, and there are definitely not. The date on the check is what defines payday.
Oh, and just to add to the confusion, our official calenders have black numbers, but Sundays and holidays have colored numbers (the color changes every year). Paydays have the whole block colored, with a white number. The last highlighted date for '08 has “08-26”, meaning the 2008, 26th payday, while January first isn’t highlighted, and January 15th is labled “09-01”.
What does the employee manual say about paydays? If it mentions the holiday exception, then your friend wins on a technicality. If it doesn’t, I’d say it’s a wash.
Piggyback regarding the 2008 tax year issue - is that how it works? i’ve been wanting to get started on my taxes but didn’t know if my last check of 2008 would work for it since there are some days from 2008 on my check I get this Thursday.
Mr. S’s official payday was 1/1. He got his check on 12/31, and the stub included all the cumulative data for 2008. I’m betting (heh) that his check for 1/15 will start anew.
Hope your friend enjoys his beer. If he’s a good egg he’ll offer you one or two.
Check the YTD figures on the check stub for that check dated 12/31 (for a 1/1 payday). If the YTD figures include the rest of your 2008 earnings - it does not count as 2009 payroll.
We each owe each other a fifth of gin, too. 
