Deduction Dates in Zenefits Payroll

Zenefits calculates per-paycheck deduction amounts by dividing the cost of an employee's benefits for each month they have coverage by the number of pay dates in that month, not the pay period(s) for each check date. Zenefits uses this method to make sure that an employee's normal per-paycheck deduction amounts are the same from month to month unless changes are made to their benefits.

For example:

• Assume the first pay date in October for an employee paid semi-monthly falls on Friday the 2nd. Most of the days in that pay period were September, with only a few in October.
• Deductions in that paycheck will still be calculated as half the monthly amount for October's coverage, instead of by the number of October days in that pay period, even though the paycheck is for days in September.
• The second paycheck in October will have the same deductions: one half of the monthly amount.

Thus, if a new hire starts on the 1st, their first paycheck will show half their monthly deductions, even though they've only worked two days. Their second paycheck will show the second half the deductions for the rest of the month.