Is Biweekly Pay Always 26 Pay Periods a Year?

Biweekly pay is a common compensation schedule where employees receive their wages every two weeks. This often leads to the assumption of exactly 26 pay periods annually. While often true, calendar mechanics can occasionally result in an additional pay period, impacting employees and employers.

What Biweekly Pay Means

Biweekly pay signifies a consistent payment schedule where an employee is compensated once every two weeks. This means that within a typical 52-week year, there are usually 26 instances of payroll distribution. This regularity offers predictability and a steady income stream for employees managing their personal finances.

Employers often favor biweekly payroll due to its consistent processing intervals and alignment with certain operational cycles.

Why Some Years Have 27 Pay Periods

A standard calendar year consists of 365 days, or 366 days in a leap year. Since a biweekly pay period spans 14 days, dividing the total days in a year by 14 reveals the potential for more than 26 cycles. For instance, 365 divided by 14 results in approximately 26.07 pay periods.

This slight remainder accumulates. If the first payday of a year falls early, such as January 1st or 2nd, the remaining days can trigger an extra 27th pay period by year-end. This phenomenon occurs roughly every 11 to 12 years, depending on the starting day of the pay cycle and leap years.

How 27 Pay Periods Affect Payroll

The occurrence of a 27th pay period has distinct implications for both employees and employers. Employees typically receive an unexpected “extra” paycheck, a welcome financial boost for savings or debt reduction. This income is still subject to federal and state income tax withholdings, plus FICA taxes.

For employers, managing a 27-pay period year requires careful adjustments to payroll budgeting and benefit deductions. Many employer benefits (e.g., health insurance, 401(k), FSA) are structured for 26 pay periods. Employers may need to adjust per-pay-period deduction amounts for these benefits to ensure the full annual amount is collected, or cease deductions early.

How to Determine Your Pay Periods

Employees can proactively determine if their specific employer will have a 27-pay period year. The most direct method involves consulting the company’s official payroll calendar, which outlines all scheduled pay dates for the year. This calendar is often distributed by the human resources or payroll department at the start of each fiscal year.

Reviewing prior year-end pay stubs can also reveal patterns in payment frequency. If a clear calendar is not available, directly inquiring with the human resources or payroll department can provide precise information regarding the expected number of pay periods for the current year.