13 APA's Top Payroll Questions & Answers for 2020 Pay frequency change to biweekly Q. A. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not regulate how often employees must be paid by their employer or how soon they must be paid after performing services. (Although the FLSA does not require that wages be paid within a certain amount of time after services are performed, federal courts have ruled that wages are unpaid unless they are paid on the employees' regular payday.) Pay frequency is left up to the individual states, and nearly all states regulate the timing of wage payments in some fashion. You need to check the requirements for each state in which you have employees; check Table 2.1 of APA's Guide to State Payroll Laws for an overview. Note that an employer may always pay its employees more frequently and sooner after the end of the pay period than state law requires. Aside from the compliance requirements for switching pay frequency, it is also wise to think about how the change will be implemented. Here are somethings to think about: * Are you moving people from "paid current" to holding pay one week? If so, a plan for bridging the cash flow gap may be needed. * If you are paying overtime in arrears and are moving to current pay cycle, you will need to work out a plan for cutover during the affected periods. * Are employee deductions going to change from 24 periods to 26? If so, prepare communications on what the changes will be with both employees and TPA's. If not, prepare to explain why paychecks will be larger three times a year (5-week months). For affected employees like executives who may be receiving pay once a month, be sure to work out a plan on how and when those deductions will be made and let them know well ahead of the change. 95 Managing a Payroll Department What are the requirements of changing pay frequency? Our company is looking at going from a semimonthly payroll to a biweekly payroll.https://bookshelf.americanpayroll.org/state_payroll/