Why your pay might come in early this December - and reason it could be a bad thing

dailyrecord.co.uk:

With a number of bank holidays falling between Christmas and new year, employers may pay their workers a little earlier than usual.While this is often a welcome change - in part thanks to pricy Christmas shopping - there are some drawbacks that people should consider.From Universal Credit to budgeting until your next pay check, Mirror Money has outlined some of the complications that an early payment can cause.Firstly, it's important to know if you are being paid early, as employers have no obligation to do this and will instead do it for the sake of convenience.They should, however, let you know that they plan to pay you early if this is the case.

On the chance that they do not, check and see if your pay day falls on any of the Christmas bank holidays.If it does, you should inquire as to whether or not you are being paid early.

The Christmas and New Year bank holiday dates are:If you are paid early, that will mean that you have to wait longer until your January pay.

You should consider this when budgeting.Christmas is already expensive, so the added strain of a few extra days without a payment from work likely won't go unnoticed.There are additional considerations for those who are claiming benefits where your earnings are taken into account, such as Universal Credit.Being paid early could mean it looks like you’ve earned more than you actually have between November and December.The Universal Credit system should flag when employees receive two pay dates in one period, to ensure your payment isn’t affected.However, if it fails to do this it could then have an impact on your January benefit payment.