Each state typically mandates when employers who do business in the state should pay their employees. Minimum paydays include weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly. When paydays do not consistently fall on a weekday – which usually happens with semimonthly and monthly payrolls – the payday may happen on a Saturday. To determine what you should do when this occurs, consult your state labor department.
Whereas one state might require that an employer pays its employees on the preceding workday if payday falls on a Saturday, another might require payment on the first workday following the weekend. For example, Utah’s state legislature says that if payday falls on a Saturday, an employer is supposed to pay wages earned during the pay period on the day before the Saturday. The Texas Workforce Commission says an employee is not deemed as “not paid” unless the payday has come and gone. Therefore, an employer in Texas may pay employees on the regular business day following the weekend.
Your company’s policy should at least comply with state regulations. If the state requires that you pay employees on the business day following the weekend, you do not have to be restricted by it. You may pay employees before that time, but not after. Some employers make it company policy to pay employees on the preceding business day, whether or not state law requires it.
As with minimum payday laws, final paycheck laws are usually state-regulated. State law dictates the time frame in which final wages are due – this depends on how an employee was terminated. Consult the state labor department for its rules on when final wages are due if the required time frame falls on a Saturday. As an example, the Oregon labor department says that if an employee quits and gives at least 48 hours of notice, final wages would be due on the last day she worked. If the last day she worked falls on a Saturday, final wages would be due on the next business day.
The state mandates when wages are due if payday falls on a legal holiday. Typically, the same rule that applies to weekends goes for holidays. Depending on state law, you may be required to pay wages on the business day preceding the holiday or on the business day after the holiday. State law also dictates how legal holidays should be treated when they fall on a Saturday or Sunday. As an example, in Washington, if the legal holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday before that Saturday is the legal holiday.
