4 ms·

Why do US companies pay out every week instead of every month? Is there some sort of benefit to it? I would think the overhead is higher and makes things more c

Why do US companies pay out every week instead of every month? Is there some sort of benefit to it? I would think the overhead is higher and makes things more complex especially if you have an outage.

jll29 3y ago
Agreed. And if you move apartments/flats, you will need several monthly rents to pay your deposit, so a two-week paycheck is not helpful, especially when you start a new job at the same time.
- dawnerd 3y ago
  I used to get paid monthly and hated it. Heck, I’d rather take daily payouts.
h2odragon 3y ago
USPS pays out every two weeks, that's very common.
MerelyMortal 3y ago
Every two weeks is the norm in the U.S. If I had to guess, it's an artifact from when people had to pick up their paper checks from their boss. Now with computerized direct deposits, I don't see why it can't be every week (or even daily).
- orev 3y ago
  Something as critical as payroll needs to be reviewed by a person before payout. Doing it daily would be insane. The comment was asking why not pay monthly instead of fortnightly, which would be less frequently.
soultrees 3y ago
Unless the money is in to your hands or in your account, it’s not yours. In fact, every day in between the day you worked and the day you were paid could be considered theft - as the value of your cash has gone down slightly in that period due to official government policies to devalue cash at a certain percentage every year, and the company is earning interest (or investment) until it’s in your account.
- sschueller 3y ago
  The US isn't what I would call a "worker friendly" place so IMO the payout period is completely under the decision of companies yet most choose to pay ever week or ever other week while in Switzerland for example almost every company pays out monthly. I was curious if there was some benefit for a company to pay more frequently when it appears to be more of an overhead.
  - soultrees 3y ago
    You’re right, and I’m surprised the companies don’t have longer pay periods in the US actually. I also wonder if there’s an economic benefit to shorter pay periods? Because the faster that money is in the worker’s hands, then the faster it’s distributed again into the economy. Monthly seems too long for me from a worker’s point of view though, you’re effectively giving the company a short-term, interest-free loan at that point. And when you factor in the fact that your purchasing power is reduced by the time you get paid, and any opportunity costs, the real cost to the worker can be quite high.
themadturk 3y ago
In the US some organizations pay weekly, some bi-weekly (26 times a year), some semi-monthly (24 times a year) and some even monthly. If any one of those is your organization's standard, your payroll's systems are set up that way and the "overhead" is built into your standard procedures. The article emphasizes "this week" not because the USPS pays weekly, but because Friday of this past week was the standard bi-weekly payday.

jll29 3y ago

Agreed. And if you move apartments/flats, you will need several monthly rents to pay your deposit, so a two-week paycheck is not helpful, especially when you start a new job at the same time.

dawnerd 3y ago
I used to get paid monthly and hated it. Heck, I’d rather take daily payouts.

h2odragon 3y ago

USPS pays out every two weeks, that's very common.

MerelyMortal 3y ago

Every two weeks is the norm in the U.S. If I had to guess, it's an artifact from when people had to pick up their paper checks from their boss. Now with computerized direct deposits, I don't see why it can't be every week (or even daily).

orev 3y ago
Something as critical as payroll needs to be reviewed by a person before payout. Doing it daily would be insane. The comment was asking why not pay monthly instead of fortnightly, which would be less frequently.

soultrees 3y ago

Unless the money is in to your hands or in your account, it’s not yours. In fact, every day in between the day you worked and the day you were paid could be considered theft - as the value of your cash has gone down slightly in that period due to official government policies to devalue cash at a certain percentage every year, and the company is earning interest (or investment) until it’s in your account.

sschueller 3y ago
The US isn't what I would call a "worker friendly" place so IMO the payout period is completely under the decision of companies yet most choose to pay ever week or ever other week while in Switzerland for example almost every company pays out monthly. I was curious if there was some benefit for a company to pay more frequently when it appears to be more of an overhead.
- soultrees 3y ago
  You’re right, and I’m surprised the companies don’t have longer pay periods in the US actually. I also wonder if there’s an economic benefit to shorter pay periods? Because the faster that money is in the worker’s hands, then the faster it’s distributed again into the economy. Monthly seems too long for me from a worker’s point of view though, you’re effectively giving the company a short-term, interest-free loan at that point. And when you factor in the fact that your purchasing power is reduced by the time you get paid, and any opportunity costs, the real cost to the worker can be quite high.

themadturk 3y ago

In the US some organizations pay weekly, some bi-weekly (26 times a year), some semi-monthly (24 times a year) and some even monthly. If any one of those is your organization's standard, your payroll's systems are set up that way and the "overhead" is built into your standard procedures. The article emphasizes "this week" not because the USPS pays weekly, but because Friday of this past week was the standard bi-weekly payday.