Payroll Frequencies
Salaried exempt employees on Justworks default to a semimonthly pay frequency, and are paid twice a month. Paydays will land on the 15th of the month, and the last day of the month (or the closest previous business day to each). Employees are paid for the 1st-15th of the month on the 15th, and for the second half of the month on the last business day of the month.
However, admins have the option to sync payroll frequencies and move their salaried exempt employees onto the biweekly payroll frequency that hourly and non-exempt salaried employees are on while entering exemption statuses using the Exempt/Non-Exempt Wizard. In this case, salaried exempt employees would be paid every other Friday, for the two weeks worked previously. If you'd like to move salaried exempt employees to biweekly after going through the Exempt/Non-Exempt Wizard, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our Justworks Support team.
Hourly and non-exempt salaried employees must be on a biweekly or weekly pay frequency in Justworks. The weeks of these pay periods will always run from Sunday to Saturday, as Justworks does not allow for any custom pay periods.
Admins can also set their salaried employees up on a weekly pay frequency. With this frequency, employees would be paid each Friday for the time worked the previous week.
If you'd like to change your company's pay frequency, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our Justworks Support team.
Prorating a payment for a new employee
NOTE: Many states have strict laws about how long you can wait to pay an employee for work that has already been performed. Please consult with your legal counsel to understand the potential consequences of delaying a payment.
When an employee starts in the middle of a pay period, their first paycheck should be prorated to pay them only for the days they worked. When administrators with the “manage employees” permission add a new employee to Justworks and include their start date, we’ll generate the suggested prorated amount for you based on the next scheduled pay cycle.
If the employee works Monday-Friday, and there aren’t any additional holidays or days off not on the holiday schedule (You > Time Off > Holiday Schedule), then you can click ‘invite (employee’s first name)’ and their first paycheck is all set.
If you have an employee that works an atypical workweek (e.g. a customer support advocate who works Tuesday-Saturday), you can click ‘5 day workweek (M-F)’ or ‘Does (employee’s first name) have an atypical workweek (not M-F)?’ and select the days the employee normally works. The prorated paycheck amount will update as you make changes.
Also if you have holidays that aren’t on the Holiday Schedule, you can account for those by clicking ‘Are there any company holidays or additional days off between …?’ From there, you can enter in how many holidays/days off there were before the employee started, and the number of holidays/days off after the employee started.
There is also the option to enter the paycheck amount manually.
Confirm the amount and you're all set! All following pay-cycles will automatically be calculated based on the employee's annual salary (annual salary divided by 24).
Prorating a payment for an employee's final paycheck
Final payments to an employee are prorated via the same process. Once again, you'll select the days of the week that are unpaid (holidays, weekends, etc.) and either select the auto-generated pro-rated amount or manually enter your own amount.
You can change or delay an automated salary payment
You can change an automated salary payment by following these steps:
- Click on the name of the employee whose payment you wish to delay. Then click 'View Payments', check the override box, change the amount, and save.
- If you choose to delay the payment, you can schedule an off-cycle payment by clicking "Make a payment,' tool when you're ready. You can do so directly in Justworks by choosing the employee, and creating a Pay Type > Salary Off-Cycle. The employee will be paid on the date you specify.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.