Updated: September 11, 2025
Bi-monthly pay period definition and meaning
A bi-monthly pay period is a payroll schedule where employees receive payment twice per month, usually on the same calendar days. It is also referred to as a semi-monthly pay period. When an employer uses a bi-monthly pay period, it issues 24 paychecks per employee in a year.
More about bi-monthly pay periods
While bi-monthly technically means once every two months, in the payroll world, it has come to mean twice per month, or semi-monthly. Pay dates are typically the first and 15th of the month, or the 15th and the last day of the month, for a total of 24 pay runs per year.
What does bi-monthly mean?
Since bi-monthly means twice per month, a bi-monthly pay schedule is when employees receive their paychecks two times every month. Also referred to as a semi-monthly pay structure, a bi-monthly pay schedule equates to 24 paychecks per year. Under a bi-monthly pay structure, employees usually get paid on specific days, such as the 1st and 15th of every month.
How to calculate bi-monthly pay?
To calculate an employee’s bi-monthly pay, divide their annual salary by 24 paychecks. For example, if Lisa has a salary of $60,000, her bi-monthly pay will be $2,500. ($60,000/24=$2,500).
To calculate bi-monthly pay for hourly employees, multiply their hourly rate by the total hours they work during each pay period, which will likely be 86.67 hours for full-time employees.
How many days are in a bi-monthly pay period?
In most cases, pay days for a bi-monthly pay schedule are about 15 days apart. For example, an employee may receive their first paycheck of the month on April 1st and the second one on April 15th. At the end of the year, they should receive a total of 24 paychecks.
How does overtime work with bi-monthly pay?
Overtime is based on a 40-hour work week and non-exempt employees may be eligible for it, regardless of if they’re employer uses a bi-monthly pay structure. Even if an employee gets paid bi-monthly, they may still receive overtime (1.5 times their typical hourly wage) any time they exceed 40 hours in a seven-day work week.
How do bi-monthly pay periods work for hourly employees?
Under a bi-monthly pay structure, hourly employees receive a total of 24 paychecks per year, just like salary employees. Their hourly rate is 24 (the number of payments they receive in a year) divided by 2087 (the number of hours they work in a year).
Using bi-monthly pay period in a sentence
“Paying employees bi-monthly would mean having consistent cash flow requirements, because there are always two pay periods per month .”
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