Estimated Payroll Hours for Salary Employees

The article explains how working hours for salaried employees are estimated in payroll. Default hours are determined by the payroll pay frequency, such as 80 hours for bi-weekly and 86.67 hours for semi-monthly schedules. These defaults are established during pay schedule creation. The article includes a table detailing default hours for various pay types, including daily, weekly, and monthly. Estimated hours may be adjusted based on an employee’s hire or termination date within a pay period. Overrides for default hours can be made in the compensation table or during payroll processing for one-time adjustments. Additionally, notes regarding hours can be added in the Paystub Notes section of the Payment Details page.

  • Oct 21, 2025
  • Knowledge

Title
Estimated Payroll Hours for Salary Employees
Article Text
Part of Payroll that is an add-on feature.

How are working hours estimated for my salary employees in payroll?

Purpose: To help you understand how hours for salary employees are estimated.

Overview

Hours for salaried employees are based on payroll pay frequency by default. For example, semi-monthly payroll runs use 86.67 hours while bi-weekly payroll runs use 80 hours, etc. These default hours are set up when creating the pay schedule. 

Pay TypeDefault Hours Per Pay Cycle
Daily8
Weekly40
Bi-Weekly80
Semi-Monthly86.67
Monthly173.33

Estimated hours are reduced based on the employee’s hire date or termination date within the pay period. You can override the default hours for salaried employees within their compensation table in BambooHR or within the Edit page of running payroll if you are making a one-time adjustment. 

You can also choose to add any helpful notes about hours in the Paystub Notes section of the employee's Payment Details page. 

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