Ever wonder why our paychecks typically come twice a month or bi-weekly, in some cases weekly? In the 19th century it was common for workers to be paid monthly, at the end of a season – or in the case of seamen, at the end of a voyage when profits were divided. Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein traces the modern pay cycle to World War II, when the U.S. Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1942 to increase revenue to fund the war effort and introduce the country’s first tax withholding system. Given the complexities of calculating pay rates, tax, healthcare and other deductions, as well as managing a company’s human…