how does salary pay work? Salary pay simply refers to the fact that you receive a certain amount of money for every pay period which is usually weekly, biweekly or monthly. There is a set amount in your employment contract that you cannot be paid above and it does not change depending on the number of hours worked. On the other hand, if your annual salary is $52,000, then you will pull in approximately $1,000 a week before taxes. Usually, working on salary jobs come includes things like paid holidays, sick leave and even health insurance. While they provide predictability of income, salaried workers may work more than 40 hours per week without receiving additional overtime pay, depending upon the position a salaried worker has been classified.