There's something very special about 2024 - well, not that special as it happens every four years. It's a leap year.
February is still the shortest month of the year, but this time it doesn't feel quite so inadequate compared to the rest.
If you want to know who to blame for the shortness of February then take it up with Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome.
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Granted, you might have a hard time doing that considering he's been dead for around 2,700 years but it was his decision to line it up with the 12 lunar cycles of the year.
But that's all ancient history and what really matters is whether you're going to get an extra day's pay because it's a leap year.
It's another day at work so surely you ought to be paid extra for your time, but unfortunately it all depends on whether you take your pay in wages or salary.
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Basically, if you get wages then you're paid by the hour and since working an extra day means a bunch more hours being worked, then you're quids in.
Obviously it is still an extra day in the year you'll be working, but let's try to focus on the positives here shall we?
Or not, as swinging hard into the negative people who are paid in a salary get a fixed amount for a period and aren't automatically entitled to be getting more money for that extra day in the leap year.
According to experts at BrightHR that isn't necessarily the end for people working to a salary, as your staff contract might say you get extra pay on a leap year.
At the very least, it's worth your while to check your contract and see what it says about the leap year, and the experts also noted another important detail for people on salaries.
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They explained that thanks to the extra day of a leap year there was a danger of someone's pay being pushed below the legal minimum.
Minimum pay is calculated at an hourly rate, so someone on salary for minimum wage could end up being paid at slightly below that if their boss hasn't dotted the i's and crossed the t's.
As for why we have a leap year in the first place, it's because the time it takes for the Earth to revolve around the Sun is 365.25 days, so instead of slipping further and further back in the calendar we just stick the extra day on every four years.
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