May holidays 2026: the advance will be smaller, but the salary will not be affected

      May 2026 will gift those working a five-day week several additional days off. However, few know how exactly the holidays will affect their wallets. SuperJob lawyers have prepared a clear calculation: the salary will not change, but the first payment of the month — the advance — will be noticeably less than usual.

      Why does this happen? It's simple: there are only 19 working days in May, so the cost of each of them is higher than in regular months. The advance is usually calculated for the days from the 1st to the 15th. In 2026, this period has only 9 working days. However, in the second half of the month, there are already 10.

      For example, let's say your salary is 57,000 rubles. The cost of one working day in May is 3,000 rubles. For the first half of the month, you will receive an advance of 27,000 rubles before tax, and for the second half — 30,000 rubles. After withholding the 13% personal income tax, you will take home 23,490 rubles and 26,100 rubles, respectively. Adding them up gives a total of 49,590 rubles. That's exactly how much you would earn in any other month without overtime.

      Nevertheless, there is an important nuance for those whose management calls them to work on official holidays or weekends. Such work must be paid at least double — this is a requirement of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

      On the other hand, employees on piecework or hourly rates are less fortunate. Since the actual hours worked or the volume of work completed in May will be less, their final salary will indeed be lower than usual. Lawyers advise clarifying this point in the company's local regulations in advance.