Despite it happening every four years, the leap year will undoubtedly have employers across the world in a tailspin, as they navigate the questions of: “Will I get paid extra?”

Well, it’s good news for millions of employees who will get additional pay. And not so good news for the millions more who will not…

So, employers will be gearing up to address the HR challenges that come with the anomaly of an extra day in the year to ensure that they are paying their employees legally and to avoid any leap year payroll pandemonium.

Alan Price, CEO of HR software provider BrightHR, explains: “With an extra day in the calendar this February, it’s no surprise that here at BrightHR, we’re getting more and more calls from employers who are navigating the question of whether they need to pay their staff more. And the answer is, as often is with HR matters, not completely clear cut…

“It all depends on your employee’s pay structure. If they’re paid hourly with a pay reference of one week, i.e., they are paid weekly, there will be no difference to their pay. That’s because a leap day does not mean a seven-day week becomes an eight-day week.

“If we consider hourly paid workers with a pay reference period of one month i.e., they are paid monthly, they will see an increase because the number of days worked in the pay reference period has changed. Look at it this way: they will have worked for 21 days in February rather than the usual 20 days.

“But it’s tough luck for your salaried workers, as they won’t see any difference in pay because they are paid with reference to the year and not the hours worked.

“It might seem cause for celebration for an employee should they receive an inflated pay packet. But no one gets anything for free – if a worker’s pay increases, it’s because they have worked the extra time.

“If you have staff on national minimum wage, you may need to run a compliance check to make sure there are no breaches around the leap day and that working the extra day does not send their pay below the national minimum wage rates.

“And there’s also a few more considerations to take into account, like what impact this might have on notice periods, deadlines, and even the day that you pay your staff if it’s usually the last day of the month. Either way, confirm to your employees so they know what to expect.”