Why use this calculator
Payslips show an annual leave balance but rarely show how it was reached, and the number is wrong more often than people expect: hours per week changed and the accrual did not, unpaid leave was counted as service, or a shiftworker is being accrued four weeks instead of five.
This calculator applies the National Employment Standards rule directly, so you can check the payslip figure, see exactly how many hours you earn each week and fortnight, and put a dollar value on the balance. That value matters when you are deciding whether to take leave or cash some out, when you are negotiating a resignation date, and when an employer offers a payout figure on termination.
It also shows the effect of leave loading, which many awards pay at 17.5 per cent and which is easy to overlook on a final pay.
How to use it
- Enter the ordinary hours you work each week from your contract or roster; full-time is 38 and part-time staff enter their actual hours.
- Choose shiftworker only if your award or enterprise agreement defines you as one for annual leave purposes, which the award's annual leave clause states.
- Enter the number of weeks worked in the period you want to check, counting from your start date or from the last balance you trust.
- Enter the hours of annual leave you have already taken in that period, which your payslips list.
- Enter your ordinary hourly rate, before any penalties or overtime, and pick leave loading if your award pays it.
- The balance, its value and the accrual table update as you type.
What each result means
- Annual leave balance
- Hours of paid annual leave you hold right now: everything accrued in the period less everything taken. A negative figure means leave was taken in advance.
- Leave accrued in this period
- Hours earned over the weeks entered, before any leave taken is subtracted. Accrual continues during paid leave and most paid absences.
- Balance in working days
- The balance divided by one fifth of your weekly hours, so a part-timer's day is shorter than a full-timer's. Useful for planning a block of leave.
- Balance in weeks
- The balance divided by your ordinary weekly hours: how many full weeks off the balance would cover at your usual pattern.
- Accrual per week
- Hours of leave you earn each week of service, with the fortnightly and monthly figures for checking a payslip that shows accrual per pay.
- Entitlement per year
- The full year's entitlement in hours: four or five weeks of your ordinary hours. Part-time staff get the same weeks, scaled to their hours.
- Cash value of the balance
- The balance at your ordinary hourly rate, which is what an employer must pay out for untaken annual leave when employment ends.
- Leave loading on the balance
- The extra percentage, commonly 17.5 per cent, that many awards add when annual leave is taken or paid out. Zero if your award does not provide it.
- Balance including loading
- Cash value plus leave loading: the gross figure to expect on a final pay if your award pays loading on termination.
The formula
Entitlement per year equals 4 weeks (5 for an award shiftworker) multiplied by ordinary hours per week. Accrued hours equal the yearly entitlement multiplied by weeks worked divided by 52, because the NES accrues leave progressively through the year. Balance equals accrued hours less hours taken. Days equal the balance divided by one fifth of the weekly hours; weeks equal the balance divided by weekly hours. Value equals the balance multiplied by the ordinary hourly rate, and leave loading equals that value multiplied by the loading percentage, 17.5 per cent in most awards that pay it.
How this number is used in practice
The commonest dispute is a final pay that undercounts leave because the employer accrued it on a 38-hour week after the employee moved to 45 contracted hours, or stopped accrual during a period of paid personal leave. The NES accrues annual leave on ordinary hours actually worked and on paid leave, so checking the payslip balance against this calculation every few months catches drift early, while payroll can still fix it from records.
Leave has a real value on the balance sheet of a job offer or a resignation. An employee with 160 hours accrued on $45 an hour is holding $7,200, plus $1,260 of loading if the award pays it on termination. Timing a resignation after a pay rise lifts the payout, because untaken leave is paid at the rate in force when it is paid out, not when it was earned. Cashing out is allowed under many awards for amounts above four weeks, but only by written agreement each time.
Worked examples
Full-time, 38 hours a week, 26 weeks worked, no leave taken, $35 an hour, no loading
Balance 76.0 hours, which is 10 working days or 2 weeks, accruing at 2.923 hours a week, worth $2,660.00.
Part-time, 20 hours a week, a full year worked, 30 hours taken, $32 an hour
Accrued 80.0 hours for the year, balance 50.0 hours after the 30 taken, which is 12.5 of your 4-hour days, worth $1,600.00.
Shiftworker, 38 hours, two years worked, 100 hours taken, $40 an hour with 17.5% loading
Entitlement 190 hours a year, accrued 380.0 hours, balance 280.0 hours worth $11,200.00, plus $1,960.00 loading: $13,160.00 in total.
When people use it
- Checking the annual leave balance printed on a payslip against the NES accrual rule.
- Working out how many days off a balance covers before booking a holiday.
- Valuing untaken leave before resigning, and seeing what loading adds to the final pay.
- Planning a part-time arrangement by seeing how fewer hours change the yearly entitlement.
- Confirming a shiftworker is being accrued the fifth week the award provides.
Tips
- Read the annual leave clause of your award before choosing shiftworker: the extra week depends on the award's own definition, not on working shifts.
- Count weeks from your start date or from a balance you have confirmed, and leave out unpaid leave, which does not accrue.
- Compare the per-fortnight accrual here with the accrual line on a fortnightly payslip; a mismatch usually means payroll holds the wrong weekly hours.
- If you are about to receive a pay rise, taking leave after it is paid at the higher rate; the same applies to a payout on leaving.
- Excess leave can be directed to be taken under many awards once you hold eight weeks or more, so plan to use a large balance.
- Keep payslips that show leave taken; they are the evidence if a final pay is short.
What it assumes, and where it stops being accurate
- Annual leave accrues evenly through the year on ordinary hours, as the NES provides. Awards that accrue in a different pattern, such as per completed month, will show small timing differences.
- Every week entered counts as service. Unpaid leave, unauthorised absences and periods of unpaid parental leave generally do not accrue annual leave and should be left out of the weeks worked.
- Casual employees do not accrue annual leave; their casual loading is paid instead. The calculator does not model casual loading.
- Leave loading is the common 17.5 per cent or nothing. Some awards pay a different loading or the greater of loading and weekend penalties, which is not modelled.
- The cash value uses the hourly rate entered today. A payout uses the rate at the time of payment and may include other amounts the award requires.
Terms used on this page
- National Employment Standards
- The eleven minimum entitlements in the Fair Work Act 2009 that apply to every national system employee, including four weeks of annual leave.
- Ordinary hours
- The hours an employee is normally rostered to work, excluding overtime; annual leave accrues on these.
- Leave loading
- An award or agreement payment, commonly 17.5 per cent, added to ordinary pay while on annual leave.
- Shiftworker
- An employee the award or agreement defines as a shiftworker for the NES, entitled to five weeks of annual leave rather than four.
Questions people ask
- How much annual leave do I accrue per week?
- A full-time employee on 38 hours accrues 2.923 hours a week, which is 152 hours or four weeks a year. A part-timer accrues the same four weeks scaled to their hours: 20 hours a week gives 1.538 hours a week and 80 hours a year. An award-defined shiftworker accrues five weeks, 3.654 hours a week on full-time hours.
- Do casuals get annual leave?
- No. Casual employees receive a casual loading, usually 25 per cent on top of the base rate, in place of paid annual leave, personal leave and notice. If a casual converts to permanent employment, leave accrues from the date of conversion, not from when they started as a casual, unless an agreement says otherwise.
- Does leave accrue while I am on leave?
- Annual leave accrues during paid leave, including annual leave itself, paid personal leave, long service leave and paid community service leave, because those count as service. It does not accrue during unpaid leave, unpaid parental leave, or periods of unauthorised absence, so leave those weeks out of the weeks worked.
- What is leave loading and do I get it?
- Leave loading is an extra payment, usually 17.5 per cent of ordinary pay, made when annual leave is taken. It comes from awards and enterprise agreements, not from the National Employment Standards, so whether you get it depends on your award's annual leave clause. Most awards that pay it also pay it on untaken leave when employment ends.
- Can I cash out annual leave instead of taking it?
- Under most modern awards you can cash out leave by separate written agreement each time, as long as you keep at least four weeks of accrued leave after the payment and are paid what you would have received had you taken it, including loading. Award-free employees can cash out under the Fair Work Act on similar terms. An employer cannot require it.
- What happens to my balance when I leave?
- Untaken annual leave is paid out in full on termination at your ordinary rate, whatever the reason employment ends, and most awards that provide leave loading require it to be paid on that balance too. The payout is taxed as an unused leave payment, which can be at a different rate from normal pay depending on why you left.
Use this with
Annual Leave Calculator answers one part of the question. These pick up where it stops: Long Service Leave Calculator, Overtime Pay Calculator, Hours Calculator, Salary After Tax Calculator, Hourly to Salary Converter and Notice Period Pay Calculator.
Where these figures come from
Figures and rules on this page follow Australian law and ATO guidance.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Annual leave fact sheet. Four weeks per year under the NES, accrued progressively on ordinary hours
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Extra week of annual leave for shiftworkers. Who gets the fifth week
Annual Leave Calculator produces an estimate for general information. It is not financial, tax, medical, legal or engineering advice. read the full disclaimer. Spotted a wrong number? Report it and it gets fixed. The form picks up this calculator and the inputs you used.