When do I pay my staff over Christmas this year?

With Christmas coming up fast like a freight train without any brakes and the payroll team are working hard to manage all the extra payroll changes over this time.  One of the biggest questions this year is “When do I have to pay my staff?”   With Wednesday and Thursday both being public holidays, and popular days for payment of wages, what happens now that we have 24 hour banking?

There is nothing in legislation to say when payment must be made.  There are a lot of expectations and rules passed down from payroll practitioner to payroll practitioner about it, but what does the law actually say?   Well, nothing.  It actually says nothing.

With the advent of 24 hr banking, payment of wages can be made at any time, as long as it aligns with what your employment agreement says, or your company policy for payment of wages, or the expectation set by pay day always being a particular day of the week.

So, if you normally pay wages on a Wednesday, you can do so on Christmas and New Years Day the year (2024).  If you choose to do so, be aware that you should do your usual checks to ensure the payment has actually gone out of your account on the day, or that you may be getting phone calls from employees if there are issues.  That does mean then dealing with work whilst trying to get through all that Christmas day brings, or a potential New Years Day headache…

Top Tip

If you usually pay your staff on a Wednesday or Thursday, pay them on a workday prior (not after, you would be breaching your obligations and the good faith aspect of your relationship with your employees). That way you can ensure you team are all paid and there are no issues before you head off for the holiday period.

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