Four weekly pay - Impacts and origins

[Merle Haggard]

Yes Truck Act of 1831 said payment has to be in cash, prior to that some businesses paid in tokens etc, which could only be used in the firms shop etc, so completely tied to unscrupulous employer.

There was a Payment of Wages Act 1960, that allowed payment by cheque rather than cash.

Tend to be able to still spot organisations that based their monthly (or 4 weekly) payment on cheques, because they pay 4-6 days before end of month or period, because they had to allow for cheques to clear and people to get cash, rather than paying on last day.

They were all repealed by Wages Act 1986, after which most employers moved all new employees and requested existing employees to move to bank transfer credit.

The 1980s also saw ATMs installed outside most bank branches, so could get your cash outside bank counter hours.

Thanks for the information.

On your last sentence, and really as an anecdotal aside, there certainly were ATMs by July 1982.

I was in the habit, after lunch at '222', to walk with my companion to the bandstand in Regents Park. On the 20th July 1982 instead of walking there directly we crossed the Euston Road for her to use the ATM at the top of Baker Street. On this occasion, she had some time-consuming difficulties with it, which was very fortunate; because, as we walked towards the bandstand, but still some distance from it, an IRA bomb went off underneath it, with loss of life and serious injury.

 

[Magdalia]

In the days when cash was a major part of the economy, many employers would also have a lot of receipts paid in cash. Furthermore, there would be a fairly predictable pattern with different amounts of cash receipts on different days of the week. That applied in particular to retail, pubs and public transport. In order to know how much cash they would need to pay wages, it helped employers to do that on the same day each week to keep the daily cash flows in and out similar from week to week.

Broadly speaking, over the whole economy. cash flowed out from the banks on Wednesday, was put into pay packets on Thursday, taken home by employees on Friday, spent over the weekend, and paid back into the banks on Monday. The banks then had until Wednesday to sort it all out before the weekly cycle began again.

Paying out cash wages on a different day of the week each month would have been an absolute nightmare for everyone involved.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for the information.

On your last sentence, and really as an anecdotal aside, there certainly were ATMs by July 1982.

I was in the habit, after lunch at '222', to walk with my companion to the bandstand in Regents Park. On the 20th July 1982 instead of walking there directly we crossed the Euston Road for her to use the ATM at the top of Baker Street. On this occasion, she had some time-consuming difficulties with it, which was very fortunate; because, as we walked towards the bandstand, but still some distance from it, an IRA bomb went off underneath it, with loss of life and serious injury.

That's a very sobering post.

 

[D6130]

Very conveniently for me - and probably most, if not all, retired railway staff - both my railway pension and state pension are paid on a four-weekly basis....and on the same day (today in my case!).

 

[Starmill]

Some people have bills due every seven days, the example given above of bus tickets is probably the most common one. Repayments on the finance for, say, a new fridge or something might also be collected once per 7 days. Not very many though.

Some lower-paid workers are still paid per 14 days.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I thought you didnt lose out over 12 months.

In theory it should work out the same when the income is annualised, but in practice it often doesn’t quite work out like that. It also requires very careful budgeting to make sure you have money back for the month where you lose your UC which, as we’re talking about the poorest people in society, often isn’t really possible or feasible.

 

[philthetube]

I was paid 4 weekly, I persuaded my bank to take out my mortgage every 4 weeks and not reduce the amount taken, this knocked three years off my mortgage.

 

[E27007]

I work for the railway, the contract of employment is robust,written in black and white, paid every four weeks paid into a bank account, 13 paydays per annum.
Along came a transfer to a new employer, we have a new payroll system, you will be paid monthly, 12 paydays per annum.
The Union were straight on the case, it is a change of written employment terms and conditions, members do not accept.
Several weeks of prevarication and negotiation, the employer claiming the new payroll system could process monthly pay but not four weekly.
The union suggested weekly pay and a one-off payment of money to buy out the change to employment terms.
Accepted by the members, from then on paid weekly (one week in arrears).
Being paid weekly was a great solution, do consider that you may have spent years working in arrears of pay by several weeks, the transition was an instant catch-up of those arrears. Many have never felt so "well-off" since the change from four-weekly to weekly.

 

[styles]

I much prefer being paid weekly as I am now. It does require you to budget for monthly bills of course, but it also means if I fancy a holiday I have the cash there to book it on the credit card then pay it off instantly.

 

[sprunt]

So if you get paid every four weeks (and assuming your pay doesn't change from period to period, what's the calculation to get the gross pay for the period? Just a simple 1/13 of your salary, or is there an adjustment to reflect there being an extra day in the year?

 

[SargeNpton]

So if you get paid every four weeks (and assuming your pay doesn't change from period to period, what's the calculation to get the gross pay for the period? Just a simple 1/13 of your salary, or is there an adjustment to reflect there being an extra day in the year?

BR used to occasionally have a five-week period at year end. Upon privatisation, some companies kept that up whereas others would have an additional one-week period for wages (and others went to monthly). I've experienced all three over the years.

 

[eyebrook1961]

Some people have bills due every seven days, the example given above of bus tickets is probably the most common one. Repayments on the finance for, say, a new fridge or something might also be collected once per 7 days. Not very many though.

Some lower-paid workers are still paid per 14 days.

McDonalds seem to vary the pay dates depending on what the franchisee finds best for them from an organisational view
My Daughter when at university was paid monthly (franchisee had 6-8 outlets), now she's at home it's every two weeks (franchisee has 2 outlets).

 

[cin88]

I was paid 4 weekly, I persuaded my bank to take out my mortgage every 4 weeks and not reduce the amount taken, this knocked three years off my mortgage.

A colleague of mine, for reasons he's yet to make sense to me, has convinced his bank to let him pay his mortgage weekly with appropriate division of the payment amount from what should be the monthly total. We're paid every 4 weeks so the logic completely escapes me.

 

[nlogax]

While working in the states I was paid bi-weekly. Was fantastic for budgeting / general management of household finances and it's a rare example of a working practice from that side of the pond I'd like to see introduced in the UK.

 

[Tester]

While working in the states I was paid bi-weekly. Was fantastic for budgeting / general management of household finances and it's a rare example of a working practice from that side of the pond I'd like to see introduced in the UK.

Fortnightly pay is normal in Australia.

 

[MicroLithium]

While working in the states I was paid bi-weekly. Was fantastic for budgeting / general management of household finances and it's a rare example of a working practice from that side of the pond I'd like to see introduced in the UK.

I remember getting fortnightly pay working for Royal Mail (not sure it lasted forever) but certainly not unknown in the UK