A worker went viral on TikTok after calling out bi-weekly pay periods, saying they’re designed to trick workers.
The worker, Kyle (@mysteryofkyle), posted the video on Jan. 14. It received nearly one million views as of Jan. 18.
In the video, Kyle stitched TikToker user @deonte00_, who said, “Bi-weekly paychecks should be illegal. I don’t bi-weekly work gimme my money.”
Kyle claimed in his stitch that the bi-weekly paycheck was designed to make workers think they make more than they actually do. He said people have short-term memories and naturally think, “that’s a lot of money” when they get a check.
“But, if they actually handed us our hourly rate in cash every hour, we would start to rethink our choices,” he said. “We would start to think about how hard we worked over the last hour and was it worth it.”
Kyle noted that employers hire workers at an hourly rate despite paying bi-weekly.
“Why don’t they just hire you at a bi-weekly rate?” he asked.
@mysteryofkyle #stitch with @deonte00_ hourly, but also weekly??? #quietquitting #corporations #layoffs #scam #job #work #nojobs #interview #truth ♬ original sound – Mystery of Kyle
While several viewers in the comments section agreed that bi-weekly checks don’t cut it, others noted how hard it is for employees who get paid monthly.
“We should get paid weekly for the fact bills come at different days,” one viewer commented.
“I get paid monthly. so it’s even worse….” another wrote.
Others said they pay special attention to how much money they earn, so it doesn’t matter when they get paid.
“I obsessively calculate how much I’m earning, ain’t no short term memory loss there,” one user wrote.
“I know how to budget so it doesn’t matter if I get paid weekly come up bi-weekly, or monthly,” another commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to @mysteryofkyle via TikTok comment.
