2026 Payroll Calendar and Potential Extra Pay Period

As we prepare for the upcoming year, I am sharing the 2026 payroll calendar to help you plan for the fiscal year ahead.

Please take note of a significant calendar anomaly: for organizations on a Friday pay schedule, 2026 may contain an extra check date. This occurs approximately every 11 years because 26 biweekly periods only cover 364 days. However, it may also affect you if you pay a monthly on the 1st, semimonthly on the 1st, or a Friday paying weekly. If our first 2026 payday falls on January 2, the first payday of 2027 will shift to December 31, 2026, due to the New Year's Day bank holiday on January 1, 2027. This does not affect everyone; however you should look at your calendar.

2026 Federal Holiday Schedule

Payroll processing may be adjusted for the following 2026 federal holidays:

Key Impacts to Review

Because of the potential Extra pay period, we must carefully evaluate the following areas:

• Salaries: For salaried employees, an extra pay period means the company must decide whether to maintain the current biweekly rate (resulting in a higher total annual payout) or divide the annual salary by 27 (which slightly reduces the amount of each check).
• Benefits & Deductions: Benefit premiums (Health, Dental, Vision) are typically calculated on a 24 or 26-pay-period basis. We may need to suspend benefit deductions on the 27th check to avoid over-collection.
• Retirement Contributions: Employees contributing fixed dollar amounts to 401(k) or 403(b) plans should monitor their limits to ensure they do not exceed IRS maximums prematurely.

Please review these dates and let me know if you have any questions regarding how these adjustments will be implemented for your department.

An article at this link gives some suggestions that may be helpful. 2026 may mean an extra biweekly pay period. Here’s how HR can prepare. | HR Dive