Payroll
What is pay period?
A pay period is the recurring stretch of time you pay for at once: weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly.
It is a payroll cadence, not an overtime unit. Overtime is still figured per workweek inside the period, which is the detail that trips up biweekly payrolls.
State law often sets a minimum frequency and how soon after the period ends you must pay. Changing cadence is allowed in most places but usually needs advance notice, and it is worth checking your state before you move people from weekly to biweekly.
Source: 29 CFR 778.104 (the workweek standard)
Handle this automatically
Kloqk is a free employee time clock for small business. It records the punches, applies your rules, and does this arithmetic for you.
Related terms
Biweekly vs semimonthly
Biweekly pays every two weeks, 26 times a year on a fixed weekday. Semimonthly pays twice a month, 24 times a year on fixed dates.
Workweek
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour days, that you set in advance and use to calculate overtime.
Timesheet
A timesheet is the record of hours an employee worked in a pay period, used to calculate pay and to prove compliance if you are ever audited.
General information for US employers, not legal advice. Wage and hour rules change and vary by state, so confirm specifics with your state labor agency or counsel.