Twice per month, on the 15th and the 30th/31st/28th…with the caveat that if payday is a Sunday or a holiday, then it’s the day before…and in the case of a payday being on a holiday that is also on a Monday, then both are in effect and it’s the Saturday before.
In the US, most payroll is outsourced to specialty companies that do nothing but prepare payroll checks and do all the myriad tax & benefit calculations & payments. With two (complex) federal tax systems, 50 different state systems and a couple dozen local systems, doing payroll for a national company is not simple.
A lot of US companies pay 2x/month, normally on the 15th & 30th/31st. The payroll processing companies therefore have a huge surge of work on those dates every month. They may well offer the same services at a discounted rate for companies willing to pay their people on oddball dates. *That’s *where the savings are; as you suggest, the direct cost of wages & taxes & benefits is unchanged by the timing.
Although …
I was in the US military back in the 80s. We were paid on the 15th & 31st. One year at the end of the fiscal year they changed our pay dates to the 1st & the 15th. This had the effect of pushing the one paycheck right at the transition point from one fiscal year into the next. The reason for the change was the politicians wanted to demostrate how they were “saving money!!1!” by lowering the defense budget that year. Voodoo accouting at its finest.
I am retired, so my pension check goes in the first of the month. When I worked (teacher) it was the fifteenth and the thirtieth. My husband is still working (local college) and is paid the first of the month, as he has been since 1973. I don’t know anyone at the college who is paid more than once a month, but it’s not something that comes up in conversation, so who knows. Faculty and staff are once a month.
UK professional here. Get paid on the 28th of the month - or the Friday if the 28th is a Sat or Sun. Get paid early in December; around the 21st.
It seems that only temp jobs get paid weekly here. Monthly is the norm.
Last working day of the month.
Get paid early in Dec also. Usually arounf the 20th.
Thanks, LSLGuy. I only know the basics of payroll and accounting, and I had no idea companies would offer discounts for something like that.
UK charity worker; my pay arrangements are exactly the same.
Public university. Staff at the same institution are paid every other week, I’m not sure of the reasoning; I would guess that staff are hourly and academics are salaried?
I chose the 15th and the last day of the month but it’s more typically the 14th and the 29th. My client is wonderfully prompt. I invoice on the 15th and last day of the month and they pay 14 days later.
When I was a federal employee (worked for a National Laboratory) I got paid once a month.
My wife is a public school teacher, she gets paid once a month.
Now I’m a software engineer in private industry, I get paid biweekly.
UK professional, paid on the 25th of the month. If the 25th is a Sunday, it goes in on the Saturday.
Other- every other Friday, although technically the money’s in the account by Thursday p.m. This also means July and December are three-check months. Woot!
Back before my wife stopped working, she was on the same ‘every other Friday’ schedule, but one week removed from my schedule. So we got a deposit every week. That was sweet.