Why You Should Consider Moving To A Weekly Payroll Structure For Your Hourly Employees

When it comes to processing payroll, there are a variety of options available to companies. You can process payroll biweekly (for example, every other Friday), semimonthly (for example, on the 10th and 25th of the month), or monthly (for example, on the last Friday of every month).

But for most employees, the more frequently they get paid, the better. So, if you want to do right by your employees—particularly your hourly employees—the best payroll option available? Weekly payroll.

Weekly payroll provides a number of benefits to both employees and employers. Let’s take a look at why you should consider paying your employees on a weekly basis—and how weekly payroll can actually help your business:

What are the employee benefits of weekly payroll?

Ask just about any hourly worker and they’ll tell you they’re in favor of weekly payroll. And for good reason! There are a number of ways employees benefit from a weekly payroll structure, including:

• Employee paychecks are frequent…Monthly payroll can put a financial strain on employees; only getting cash-in-hand once a month can be challenging. With weekly paychecks, employees get a payday every week—which means they have the cash-in-hand they need, when they need it.
• ...and consistent. Not only does the frequency of weekly payroll help your employees, but so does the consistency. Getting a weekly check ensures your clients can pay their bills as they come in—instead of having to budget less consistent payroll options (like monthly or bi-weekly). 
• Each paycheck reflects an employee’s work week—including any overtime. The hours an hourly employee works can vary week to week—and, as such, the amount they get paid can vary from week to week as well. When an employee works overtime, they want to be compensated for that extra time as soon as possible. With weekly paychecks, you can make sure your employees are getting paid in a timely fashion for the time they put into your business—instead of having to wait for future pay dates (which could be nearly a month away) to collect their overtime pay.
  

What are the employer benefits of weekly payroll?

Weekly payroll is a major perk for hourly employees—but it also offers some major benefits to small business owners.

As an employer, weekly payroll can help support your business (and make your life easier!) in a number of ways, including:

A weekly payroll schedule makes for easy planning

When you process payroll on a monthly or semimonthly basis, it can make it hard to plan for. For example, let’s say you process payroll on the 10th and 25th. Those dates will fall on different days of the week from month to month—so one month you may need to process payroll on a Tuesday and a Wednesday—and the next month it’s a Friday and a Monday. 

When you run payroll every week, it becomes much easier to work into your schedule. Instead of scrambling to find time to process payroll on random days and times throughout the month, you know exactly when during the week you need to make time to get it done (for example, on Wednesday afternoons)—and because that time will stay consistent from week to week, it’s much easier to plan your schedule around it. 

No prorating pay periods for new employees

Hiring new employees can be challenging when you have a bi-weekly payroll, semimonthly payroll, or monthly payroll structure. If the employee starts in the middle of a pay period, you’ll need to prorate their first paycheck—and make sure they’re only getting paid for the hours (and the portion of the pay period) they actually worked. This proration process can be tedious, time-consuming, and frustrating to manage on the back end.

When you run payroll weekly, you can completely eliminate this problem. Because the vast majority of new hires start on a Monday, all your new employees will be starting at the beginning of a new pay period, so there’s no need to worry about prorating their paycheck—which can save you a significant amount of time, energy, and hassle.

Happy employees = invested employees

Hourly employees want weekly paychecks. And by running payroll on a weekly basis, you’re showing your employees that you not only care about their financial well-being, but are invested in creating a work environment where they feel heard, valued, and taken care of.

And so, perhaps the most important benefit of weekly payroll for employers? Weekly payroll will make your employees happy—and happy employees are invested employees.

By giving your employees the kind of pay structure they want, you’re showing them you’re invested in their financial well-being—and, as such, they’ll be more invested in you and your company. And when your employees are happy and invested in their work environment, they’re less likely to work elsewhere—which can help you improve employee retention, lower hiring costs, and create a sense of consistency and stability within your company. 

How Hourly can help you transition to weekly pay periods

Clearly, moving to a weekly pay period—instead of bimonthly, semimonthly, or monthly—offers serious benefits to both employees and employers. So why isn’t it the go-to payroll structure for more companies?

For many, it boils down to budget. Many payroll providers charge their clients each time they run payroll—so moving to a weekly pay period can be four times as expensive as paying your employees on a monthly basis.

At Hourly, we never want cost to be a barrier for our clients in getting their employees paid. That’s why we offer unlimited, full-service payroll runs; if you want to make sure your hourly employees are getting paid for the time they put in each week, we’ll help you make that happen—without any additional fees, charges, or costs to your business. Hourly also offers time tracking and mobile payroll options—so you’ll spend seconds, not hours, processing your payroll each week.

Ready to learn more about how Hourly can help you transition to weekly pay periods—without breaking the budget? Get in touch today!