There Are 27 Bi-Weekly Pay Periods This Year, Not the Usual 26
2026 is an unusual year for many reasons, including one in particular about which many employers may not be aware.
For employers who pay their exempt employees on a bi-weekly basis with a Friday payday, there is an unusual issue that may have legal and financial repercussions.
The issue: Unlike most years where there are 26 bi-weekly pay periods, there will be 27 in 2026 for many employers – at least those that issue the final paycheck of 2026 on Thursday, December 31, 2026, since Friday, January 1, 2027, is a bank holiday.
This oddity occurs every 11 years.
It happens because 26 bi-weekly paychecks only cover 364 days in a year, not 365 days (and not 366 days in leap years). The extra day (or two) end up creating an additional bi-weekly pay period every 11 years.
And this is that 11th year.
This oddity raises a dilemma for employers that pay exempt employees on a bi-weekly basis. They can either pay employees more than they had intended in 2026 – effectively a 3.846% raise – or they might face a possible wage payment claim.
An example might be helpful.
Imagine that an employer has agreed to pay an exempt employee a salary of $100,000 per year on a bi-weekly basis.
In 2025, it would have paid that employee $3,846.15 in each of 26 bi-weekly paychecks. (26 x $3,846.15 ≈ $100,000.)
But if it pays that employee that same $3,846.15 in each of 27 bi-weekly pay periods in 2026, it would end up paying the employee $103,846 in 2026 – a 3.846% raise. (27 x $3,846.15 = $103,846.05.)
Of course, that would not just apply to that one employee. It would also be true of every exempt employee paid in that same, bi-weekly manner. And that could have a substantial financial impact on an employer, creating budgeting and cash flow issues with payrolls increasing unexpectedly.
If an employer sought to address this oddity by slightly reducing the amount of each paycheck in 2026 – paying the employee in the example above $3,703 per bi-weekly paycheck rather than $3,846 such that their compensation in 2026 would total $100,000 – not only might there be morale issues for employees who suddenly saw smaller paychecks, but there could be legal ramifications, too.
Depending on the amount of the resulting payments, the salary requirement for an employee’s overtime exemption might no longer be met.
And employees could also bring wage theft claims alleging that they have not been paid everything they are owed for work already performed or that the employer has breached their contracts.
(Note that this same oddity will occur for exempt employees paid on a weekly basis – i.e., assuming a Friday payday and the final payment is made on December 31, 2026, there will be 53 weekly paychecks in 2026.)
With a heightened focus on wage-hour issues and the prevalence of wage-hour class actions in the years since this oddity last occurred, employers should consult counsel or review the issues internally as soon as possible.
If documents unambiguously provide for a specific amount to be paid to an employee bi-weekly, it would seem clear that the specified amount should be paid in each bi-weekly paycheck, even if it results in an unanticipated 3.86% raise.
But if the documentation instead provides for payment on an annualized basis, the employer will then need to analyze its options and the risks, including whether to reduce the amount of bi-weekly checks or switch to semi-monthly or monthly paychecks. Of course, that type of switch can have its own administrative difficulties if non-exempt employees would still be paid on a bi-weekly or weekly basis. And if the entire workforce were switched to semi-monthly, that would have its own difficulties when paying non-exempt employees.
