Bi-weekly vs. Semi-monthly pay explained (2024)

In my hometown, most people had biweekly pay schedules while I was growing up.

You understood that you had a possibility if your mother told you that you would have to wait until next Friday to get what you wanted, like the newest video game or an RC vehicle.

As you grew older, you began to understand when it was ideal to request additional funding—exactly when the scrumptious paycheck arrived every 2 weeks.

And that’s how the bi-weekly payment schedule came to my attention.

What distinguishes semi-monthly salary from bi-weekly pay?

Semi-monthly simply means twice a month, while bi-weekly is every 2 weeks.

But wouldn’t that imply that these are exactly the same if certain months have 4 weeks?

Although this is a popular myth, bi-weekly & semi-monthly payroll frequencies aren’t exactly the same because certain months have greater than 4 weeks.

The comparison of semi-monthly and bi-weekly payrolls: The frequency of payments

Payment is made to you every two weeks if you have a bi-weekly period of pay. It comes up to 26 payments because there are fifty-two weeks per year.

Two payments per month are sent to people who are paid semi-monthly. This equals 24 paychecks every year, given that there are twelve months during a year.

Your paycheck will typically arrive on the second Friday if you are on a bi-weekly payment plan (or whichever day in the week the paycheck is issued).

Paychecks for those who receive semi-monthly payments normally arrive on the 1st and 15th (or 15th and 30th/31st) of each month, provided that these days coincide with business days. Should it not, it is going to be delivered the following Monday or the Friday prior.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of bi-weekly versus semi-monthly pay?

While it’s true that these periods of pay appear to be very similar, you can still have a few inquiries.

Is one superior to the other as a worker?

How about from the perspective of an employer?

Why do they look so much alike, yet differ?

All of the questions are legitimate. Let’s examine them in brief.

In terms of benefits, there is no comparative advantage between these periods of pay for employees. Selecting either one will not increase your income or decrease your tax liability. Some individuals do, however, have particular preferences regarding certain pay frequencies.

Employee preferences for pay frequency

To receive more paychecks, certain individuals prefer receiving bi-weekly payments.

In the event that you are able to create a satisfactory monthly budget through bi-weekly payments, the additional two paydays and 3 paycheck months may appear as a pleasant perk.

Additionally, a bi-weekly payment plan ensures regularity in the times of the week that you get paid, which might ease some financial strains.

With a semi-monthly salary, the checks will be marginally larger but you won’t receive an additional payment. If your paycheck is received on the company’s working day, semi-monthly payment will provide consistency in terms of the particular day of the month but not in terms of the day of the week your income is received.

Paying your bills on time each month might make it much easier to keep your finances in line.

Employers’ preferred frequency of payment

In an ideal world, workers would be free to select the pay schedule that best suits their needs, or even better, they would receive compensation whenever they needed it.

However, the underlying cause for why firms process payroll at a specific frequency is a little more nuanced.

It’s a fact that processing payrolls, whether they are semi-monthly or bi-weekly, requires a significant amount of time and effort.

From the employee’s perspective, you just get paid by check or have funds transferred straight into your bank account every pay month. Although this may appear to be quite simple, paying staff actually requires quite a bit of work to be done in the background.

In light of this, what distinguishes bi-weekly and semi-monthly for payroll-processing employers?

How hourly employees and salaried employees are taken into account?

The primary distinction lies in the amount of work that each alternative requires from payroll administrators.

Due to the ease of paying employees who track their work hours on weekly schedules, hourly workers are often paid every two weeks i.e. Bi-weekly.

Salaried workers typically receive semi-monthly compensation since it requires less effort for the payroll department to monitor their working hours and since there are just 24 pay cycles rather than 26 bi-weekly checks.

Closing Remarks

Employees will find that the greatest distinction between semi-monthly and bi-weekly pay is that the former will provide larger payments, while the latter will provide two additional paychecks annually.

But worry not—the frequency and amount of paychecks for bi-weekly and semi-monthly are the only factors that ultimately determine take-home pay, which remains constant.

When looking for employment, you won’t have the option to select bi-weekly over semi-monthly and vice-versa, but it’s still critical to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both sides and the reasons why some employers would favor particular periods of pay over others.

Whether the payments are made bi-weekly or semi-monthly, recognizing and appreciating the job that payroll administrators do in the background is crucial.

Running a bi-weekly pay will be easier for the people in charge of payments if the majority of the workers at their place of employment are hourly.

On the other hand, since there isn’t a need to monitor weekly hours, a company with a higher percentage of salaried staff will probably pay its workers every two weeks.