MORE than three-quarters (77.3%) of respondents identified Friday as the most popular day to get paid, according to research from the Solihull-based Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP).

The research revealed that the most popular pay day for weekly, fortnightly and four-weekly payroll frequencies is a Friday; which has remained unchanged since the survey was launched in 2008. Thursday continues to be the second most common pay day.

For its annual survey on payslips, the CIPP investigated the trends in payroll practices of its members and examined the frequency and method by which employees were paid, the information that was included on payslips and methods of distribution.

Other findings showed that more than a third (38%) of respondents are currently utilising e-payslips and 23% are considering using that method of distribution.

In 2010 only three per cent of respondents said they had considered e-payslips and subsequently rejected the idea, whereas this year, that figure rose to nine per cent.

Karen Thomson of the CIPP, said: “Conducting this research for the last four years has always revealed interesting results and fascinating trends.

“Consistently Thursday and Friday are the most popular pay days and one of the main reasons why we think this is the case is because the majority of employees have contracts stating that their working week is Monday to Friday.

“In order to ensure that payroll departments have sufficient time to process the previous week’s hours as well as to submit the correct Bacs files, Friday seems to be the most logical day.

“For employees, it also makes sense that they would prefer Fridays to get paid because it gives them the opportunity to enjoy the financial rewards of all their hard work over the weekend.”