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Grace period

 

 
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Grace period
 
 
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A grace period is a period of time past the deadline for fulfilling an obligation during which a penalty that would be imposed for being late is waived. Grace periods, which can range from a number of minutes to a number of days or longer, depending on the context, can apply in various situations, including arrival at a job
Employment

Employment is a contract between two party , one being the #Employer and the other being the #Employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the Service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral contract or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and Management the employee i...
, paying a bill
Bill (payment)

A bill is a document demanding payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of restaurants, credit card companies, public utility, and other service providers....
, for meeting government or legal requirement, or in many other situations.






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A grace period is a period of time past the deadline for fulfilling an obligation during which a penalty that would be imposed for being late is waived. Grace periods, which can range from a number of minutes to a number of days or longer, depending on the context, can apply in various situations, including arrival at a job
Employment

Employment is a contract between two party , one being the #Employer and the other being the #Employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the Service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral contract or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and Management the employee i...
, paying a bill
Bill (payment)

A bill is a document demanding payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of restaurants, credit card companies, public utility, and other service providers....
, for meeting government or legal requirement, or in many other situations.

In law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
, a grace period is a period of time during which a particular rule exceptionally does not apply, or only partially applies. For the grace period in patent law
Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
, see novelty (patent)
Novelty (patent)

Novelty is a patentability requirement. An invention is not patentable if the claim ed subject matter was disclosed before the date of filing, or before the date of priority right if a priority is claimed, of the patent application....
.

Types of grace periods

Some companies and organizations do not view one who fulfills an obligation within a grace period any differently. In these situations, a subject who is past due, but who meets the obligation within the grace period receives equal treatment and no penalty or negative reputation.

Other clients may receive a partial, less severe penalty. For example, many utility
Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility....
 companies will charge a small late fee
Late fee

A late fee, also known as a late fine or a past due fee, is a charge levied against a client by a company or organization for not paying a bill or returning a rented or borrowed item by its due date....
 for those who do not pay their bill by the stated due date. However, the utility service provider will wait a longer period of time before cutting off service
Turn-off notice

A turn-off notice, cut-off notice, or shut-off notice is a warning letter sent out by the provider of a service for a residence or other building, such as Public utility, Telecommunication, or cable television, that if payment is not sent by the date indicated in the notice, the service will be interrupted....
.

Some companies may suspend certain privileges during a grace period. For example, self storage
Self storage

Self storage facilities are businesses composed of real estate or personal property containerization divided into self storage spaces that are renting to tenants, usually on a monthly basis....
 services will often waive a late fee if the rent is not paid for up to several days past the due date, but will deny the tenant access to his/her unit until the bill is paid.

Advantages and disadvantages

Grace periods can provide some advantages. For example, people who habitually are on time for their obligations, but due to occasional unforeseen circumstances are late on a rare occasion, can avoid a penalty for being late within the grace period and maintain their reputation for timeliness.

However, habitual procrastinators may come to view the grace period as the actual deadline, and if, due to unforeseen circumstances, they are occasionally late beyond that, they might complain about the applied penalty.

Credit cards

In personal finance
Personal finance

Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, personal budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events....
, a grace period is the period during which no interest is charged on a credit card. See Credit card interest
Credit card interest

Credit card interest is the principal way in which card issuers generate revenue. A card issuer is a bank that gives a consumer a credit card or account number that can be used with various payees to make payments and borrow money from the bank simultaneously....
 for further information.

A period of time after a payment due date within which the fee can be paid without penalty. For example, late charges may not be incurred for rental payments due on the first of the month if they are paid on or before the 10th of the month.

See also


  • Late fee
    Late fee

    A late fee, also known as a late fine or a past due fee, is a charge levied against a client by a company or organization for not paying a bill or returning a rented or borrowed item by its due date....
  • Turn-off notice
    Turn-off notice

    A turn-off notice, cut-off notice, or shut-off notice is a warning letter sent out by the provider of a service for a residence or other building, such as Public utility, Telecommunication, or cable television, that if payment is not sent by the date indicated in the notice, the service will be interrupted....
  • Grandfather clause
    Grandfather clause

    A grandfather clause is an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations....
  • Sunset clause