Expert: Arthur Naman - 12/30/2010

Question
I am trying to understand 15 th and 30 th pay dates. There are some months that I have to wait 3 weeks to get paid but I never see 3 weeks worth of pay in my check. HR says I will see overtime on my next check, however, my next check only shows aprox. $50 difference and I make $18.36 an hour. Are they only paying $50 for 5 days of work?! I really don't understand.

Answer
Consider the difference between the pay period and pay date. Also consider when weekends fall as that may affect the pay date. That is the only reason I can think of there being a difference is the number of weeks between pay dates.

By your question it appears that the pay periods are the 15th and 30th (actually normally the end of the month rather than the 30th.)

The pay date may be a certain number of business days following the pay period end. Thus it may not always be a specific number of weeks between pay dates.