This was called anticipatory payroll or paying in advance. This allows the employee to document time worked, the manager to confirm this attendance and the Department Head to certify the expenditure of public funds before the employee is paid. There are only 6 states in the country that continue to support an anticipatory payroll, all others have moved to payment in arrears. This process allows for more accurate payments to employees and fewer adjustments. The following example illustrates the effect of this change on an employee s annual pay received and reported on the employee s W-2.
Some employees feel that they are losing a week's pay.
As the examples below indicates, there is no loss in pay but the timing of receipt of funds is later. The last biweekly payperiod in 2000 was paid in tax year 2001. Copyright 1999-2001, Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller, all rights reserved.