Calculate your biweekly or fortnightly earnings with this free calculator.
What Is Biweekly Pay?
Biweekly pay means being paid every two weeks, usually on the same day, such as every second Friday. In South Africa, this pay cycle is more commonly referred to as fortnightly pay, and it sits between weekly and monthly pay schedules in terms of frequency.
Because a year has 52 weeks, a biweekly pay schedule results in 26 pay periods per year. This is different from semi-monthly pay, which pays out twice a month (on fixed dates, such as the 15th and last day of the month) and only totals 24 payments a year.
Fortnightly pay is less common in South Africa than monthly pay, which remains the standard for most salaried employees. However, it is still used by some retail, hospitality, and industrial employers, as well as companies with international payroll systems.
Under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), employers and employees may agree to a daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly pay interval, so a fortnightly arrangement is entirely lawful provided it has been agreed to.
How to Calculate Biweekly Pay
There are a few ways to work out biweekly pay, depending on what information you already have.
Step 1: Identify your known pay rate, whether that’s an hourly rate, a weekly wage, a monthly salary, or an annual salary.
Step 2: Apply the relevant formula below to convert that figure into a biweekly amount.
Step 3: If you want your annual equivalent, multiply the biweekly figure by 26.
Biweekly Pay Formulas
- From an hourly rate: Biweekly Pay = Hourly Rate × Hours Worked Per Week × 2
- From a weekly wage: Biweekly Pay = Weekly Wage × 2
- From a monthly salary: Biweekly Pay = (Monthly Salary × 12) ÷ 26
- From an annual salary: Biweekly Pay = Annual Salary ÷ 26
Worked Example
Say you earn an hourly rate of R150 and work 40 hours a week. Your biweekly pay is calculated as follows:
Biweekly Pay = R150 × 40 × 2 = R12,000
If you’re paid a monthly salary instead, say R25,000 a month, the calculation looks slightly different, since a year doesn’t divide evenly into 26 two-week blocks:
Biweekly Pay = (R25,000 × 12) ÷ 26 = R11,538.46
Notice this figure is not simply half of your monthly salary. That’s because two months of the year contain three fortnightly pay periods instead of two, which is why converting through the annual salary gives a more accurate result than dividing the monthly amount in half.
Biweekly vs Weekly vs Monthly Pay in South Africa
Most permanently employed South Africans are paid monthly, which aligns with standard tax reporting and typical budgeting cycles like rent and debit orders. Weekly pay is common in sectors with hourly or casual labour, such as construction and domestic work. Fortnightly pay bridges the two, and is often chosen by employers who want more frequent payroll cycles than monthly, without the administrative load of running payroll every week.
For employees, a fortnightly schedule means two months of the year include a third “extra” paycheck. Budgeting around your 26 pay periods, rather than assuming every month pays out identically, will give you a clearer financial picture over the full year.
Converting Between Pay Frequencies
Once you know your biweekly pay, you can work out other frequencies using these conversions:
- Biweekly to Annual: Biweekly Pay × 26
- Biweekly to Monthly: (Biweekly Pay × 26) ÷ 12
- Biweekly to Weekly: Biweekly Pay ÷ 2
- Biweekly to Hourly: Biweekly Pay ÷ (Hours Per Week × 2)
A Note on Gross vs Net Pay
The figures calculated above reflect gross pay, meaning your earnings before deductions. Your actual take-home amount will be lower once mandatory deductions such as PAYE income tax and UIF contributions are applied, along with any other deductions like retirement fund contributions or medical aid. If you need your after-tax figure, use a dedicated take-home pay calculator alongside this one.