New Employee Pay Dilemma: How Should We Handle January's Partial Salary?

If the employee joined on the 27th of January 2020, should we pay him the 4 days' salary in February, or do we need to pay him January's salary along with February's in March?

It's obvious there could be some delay in disbursing the first month's salary promptly on the declared date, though it's avoidable. In your case, you may stick to your company's normal salary date. If everybody is paid their salary on the last working day of the month, say the 31st, you may disburse the 5 days' salary on the 31st itself. Supposing all salaries are paid subsequently (Payday) between the 1st to the 10th of the month, you may do so accordingly. There's no harm in doing this. It's not right to combine January and February's salaries and make the payment in March. January's pay should be disbursed before the 10th of February. (Refer to your declared payday notification)

In my opinion, the disbursement of salary for the new employee who joined on January 27, 2020, depends on the type of your normal wage period. If it is exactly a regular calendar month, his salary shall be paid along with other employees on or before the 5th or 7th of February 2020. If it is a month's wage period of 30 days commencing on a certain date in the last week of the current month and ending on a certain date in the last week of the succeeding month to maintain the parity of the wage period, the new employee's salary merges with the normal wage period, and he can be paid with the others.

From my point of view, if the salary is paid at the month-end (30th or 31st) for all employees, then it is not necessary to credit the salary for him in the same month (January). Alternatively, if the salary is credited in the succeeding month on or before the 7th, and if it is possible to avail the individual's salary upon completing all the formalities, then the salary can be credited during the month of February. If there is a delay in the process, then the salary can be accumulated and paid to the individual during the month of March.

Regards,
Youvaneshwaran
Human Resource
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