If an employee is paid biweekly, how many pay periods will they receive in a year?
Let’s break down the calculation of how many biweekly pay periods an employee will receive in a year in detail:
Step 1: Understanding Biweekly Pay
A biweekly pay period means the employee receives a paycheck every two weeks, or every 14 days. The number of pay periods in a year will depend on how many total weeks are in a year, and since a biweekly pay period covers 2 weeks, we can determine how many pay periods fit into the full year.
Step 2: Total Weeks in a Year
A typical non-leap year has 365 days. To convert these days into weeks, we divide by 7 (since a week has 7 days):
365÷7=52 weeks+1 extra day365 \div 7 = 52 , \text{weeks} + 1 , \text{extra day}365÷7= 52 weeks + 1 extra day
This means there are 52 full weeks in a year and an additional 1 day in a non-leap year. A leap year consists of 366 days.
366÷7=52 weeks+2 extra days.366 \div 7 = 52 , \text{weeks} + 2 , \text{extra days}.366÷7= 52 weeks + 2 extra days.
So, whether it’s a leap year or a regular year, there are always 52 full weeks in a year.
Step 3: Dividing the Total Weeks by the Length of a Pay Period
Since the employee is paid biweekly (every 2 weeks), we can divide the total number of weeks in the year (52) by the length of the pay period (2 weeks):
52÷2=26 biweekly pay periods.52 \div 2 = 26 , \text{biweekly pay periods}.52÷2= 26 biweekly pay periods.
Step 4: Why Does the Extra Day(s) Not Affect the Number of Pay Periods?
In a non-leap year, the extra 1 day doesn’t change the calculation, as the employee is still paid every two weeks. The payroll system may adjust the start and end dates for each pay period slightly, but the total number of pay periods remains 26.
In a leap year (366 days), the extra 2 days do not change the total number of pay periods either. The payroll system might adjust the schedule slightly for the start and end of each pay period, but the total number of biweekly pay periods remains 26.
Step 5: Example
Let’s say an employee starts working on January 1st and is paid biweekly. Their pay periods might look like this:
First Pay Period: January 1st to January 14th
2nd Pay Period: January 15 – January 28
3rd Pay Period: January 29 – February 11
… and so on.
If you continue this process through the entire year, the employee will receive 26 paychecks (26 biweekly pay periods).