Canada
United States
Bahamas
Jamaica
Trinidad & Tobago
Antigua & Barbuda
Barbados
AnguillaPayroll
Off-Cycle Payroll, in plain English.
Workzoom defines Off-Cycle Payroll as follows. An off-cycle payroll is any pay run processed outside the regular schedule, used for termination pay, a missed or incorrect payment, a bonus paid separately, or a retroactive...
Book a Workzoom walkthrough → 25+ years of HR and payroll production. Live in Canada, the US, and the Bahamas.
- Since 2000. Workzoom has run Canadian payroll for 25+ years.
- Canadian data residency, AWS Canada (ca-central-1). Canadian customer data stays in Canada.
- SOC 2-aligned controls. Encrypted at rest, role-based access, immutable audit logs.
- Trusted by County of Renfrew, Silvera for Seniors, and Cable Bahamas. Built for 50 to 5,000 employee organizations.
The short answer
An off-cycle payroll is any pay run processed outside the regular schedule, used for termination pay, a missed or incorrect payment, a bonus paid separately, or a retroactive correction. It carries the same statutory obligations as a scheduled run, including deductions, remittance, and year-to-date impact. Workzoom processes off-cycle runs against the same employee record so year-to-date figures stay correct.
How Off-Cycle Payroll works.
An off-cycle run is a full payroll, not a manual cheque. Statutory contributions still apply, ceilings still track year-to-date, and the amounts still flow to remittance and year-end reporting. The complication is that some deductions are scheduled per pay period rather than per dollar, such as fixed benefit premiums, so processing an extra run can double-deduct unless those are suppressed deliberately. Termination runs add final vacation payout and any outstanding entitlements to the same calculation.
Where Off-Cycle Payroll goes wrong.
- C
- u
- t
- t
- i
- n
- g
- a
- m
- a
- n
- u
- a
- l
- c
- h
- e
- q
- u
- e
- o
- u
- t
- s
- i
- d
- e
- t
- h
- e
- s
- y
- s
- t
- e
- m
- i
- s
- t
- h
- e
- h
- a
- b
- i
- t
- t
- h
- a
- t
- c
- a
- u
- s
- e
- s
- t
- h
- e
- d
- a
- m
- a
- g
- e
- ,
- b
- e
- c
- a
- u
- s
- e
- y
- e
- a
- r
- -
- t
- o
- -
- d
- a
- t
- e
- t
- o
- t
- a
- l
- s
- ,
- s
- t
- a
- t
- u
- t
- o
- r
- y
- c
- e
- i
- l
- i
- n
- g
- s
- ,
- a
- n
- d
- y
- e
- a
- r
- -
- e
- n
- d
- f
- o
- r
- m
- s
- n
- e
- v
- e
- r
- l
- e
- a
- r
- n
- a
- b
- o
- u
- t
- i
- t
- .
- R
- e
- c
- o
- n
- c
- i
- l
- i
- a
- t
- i
- o
- n
- t
- h
- e
- n
- h
- a
- p
- p
- e
- n
- s
- i
- n
- J
- a
- n
- u
- a
- r
- y
- a
- g
- a
- i
- n
- s
- t
- a
- f
- i
- g
- u
- r
- e
- n
- o
- b
- o
- d
- y
- c
- a
- n
- t
- r
- a
- c
- e
- .
- T
- h
- e
- s
- e
- c
- o
- n
- d
- t
- r
- a
- p
- i
- s
- l
- e
- a
- v
- i
- n
- g
- p
- e
- r
- i
- o
- d
- -
- b
- a
- s
- e
- d
- d
- e
- d
- u
- c
- t
- i
- o
- n
- s
- a
- c
- t
- i
- v
- e
- o
- n
- a
- n
- e
- x
- t
- r
- a
- r
- u
- n
- a
- n
- d
- t
- a
- k
- i
- n
- g
- a
- f
- u
- l
- l
- m
- o
- n
- t
- h
- o
- f
- b
- e
- n
- e
- f
- i
- t
- p
- r
- e
- m
- i
- u
- m
- s
- t
- w
- i
- c
- e
- .
Where Off-Cycle Payroll sits between HR and payroll.
Off-Cycle Payroll does not stand alone. The concepts most often paired with it on a Payroll run are Retroactive Pay, Payroll processing, Offboarding, Payroll Register. Each is defined elsewhere in this glossary so you can trace the full chain without leaving the site.
How Off-Cycle Payroll runs on Workzoom.
Off-Cycle Payroll is part of the Workzoom Payroll Suite. Workzoom runs HR, workforce, and talent on a single employee record across ten countries: Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. Full gross-to-net payroll runs live in Canada, the United States, and the Bahamas. Pricing starts at $4 per employee per suite per month.
Questions about Off-Cycle Payroll
More on Off-Cycle Payroll
Playbooks and teardowns from teams putting it into production.
Jamaica NIS Registration for Employers
Jamaica employers must register for NIS before first payroll. Covers registration steps, 2026 rates, S01 deadlines, NHT, and common...
Read article →
Best HR Software for Barbados Employers (2026 Guide)
The best HR software for Barbados compliance: Employment Rights Act, NIS, BRA payroll. See how Workzoom handles the Caribbean workforce.
Read article →
Bahamas Employment Act 2001: Minimum Wage, Overtime, Leave
Bahamas Employment Act 2001 for employers: minimum wage ($210/wk), overtime, vacation and sick leave, NIB, severance, and the dismissal...
Read article →
HR Software for Small Business in Canada: What Works
The honest guide to HR software for small business in Canada. Right-sized platforms for 50-500 employees, Canadian payroll built in, no...
Read article →Run HR, payroll, workforce, and talent on one platform.
$4 per employee per suite. 50 to 5,000 employees. Sprint-based, client-paced go-live.