Annual leave calculator: accrual, balance and value
Under the National Employment Standards a full-time employee accrues 4 weeks of annual leave a year, which is 152 hours on a 38-hour week or 2.92 hours for every week worked, accruing progressively on ordinary hours. Part-time employees accrue the same rate on their hours; casuals do not accrue leave. Enter the hours, dates and rate to see the balance and its value.
Annual leave balance
167.45 hours
- Value ex loading
- $6,446.85
- Leave loading amount
- $1,128.20
- Value inc loading
- $7,575.04
- Accrual per fortnight hours
- 5.8462
Show breakdown
Calculation breakdown
- Weeks of service
- 83.29
- Ordinary hours worked
- 3,164.86
- Accrual hours per ordinary hour
- 0.0769
- Accrued hours
- 243.45
- Taken hours
- 76
- Balance hours
- 167.45
- Balance days
- 22.03
- Balance weeks
- 4.41
- Value ex loading
- $6,446.85
- Leave loading amount
- $1,128.20
- Value inc loading
- $7,575.04
- Accrual per week hours
- 2.9231
- Accrual per fortnight hours
- 5.8462
- Accrual per month hours
- 12.6667
- Accrual per year hours
- 152
| Weeks of service | 83.29 |
|---|---|
| Ordinary hours worked | 3,164.86 |
| Accrual hours per ordinary hour | 0.0769 |
| Accrued hours | 243.45 |
| Taken hours | 76 |
| Balance hours | 167.45 |
| Balance days | 22.03 |
| Balance weeks | 4.41 |
| Value ex loading | $6,446.85 |
| Leave loading amount | $1,128.20 |
| Value inc loading | $7,575.04 |
| Accrual per week hours | 2.9231 |
| Accrual per fortnight hours | 5.8462 |
| Accrual per month hours | 12.6667 |
| Accrual per year hours | 152 |
Ordinary hours only. Unpaid absences and award-specific rules are not modelled. A negative balance represents leave in advance.
The balance is 167.45 hours (4.41 weeks), worth $6,446.85 before leave loading and $7,575.04 including the entered loading.
At a glance
- Entitlement
- 4 weeks a year (5 for eligible shiftworkers), National Employment Standards
- Accrual
- 0.0769 hours of leave per ordinary hour worked (4 ÷ 52)
- Full time, 38 hours
- 2.92 hours a week, 5.85 a fortnight, 152 a year
- Part time
- the same rate on ordinary hours worked; overtime does not accrue
- Casuals
- no annual leave; a 25% casual loading is paid instead under most awards
- Leave loading
- 17.5% under many awards when leave is taken; not part of the NES
How it is calculated
Multiply ordinary hours in the selected period by four fifty-seconds, or five fifty-seconds for an eligible shiftworker. Add the opening balance, deduct leave taken and calculate pay and any selected loading.
weeks_of_service = (as_at − start).days ÷ 7
ordinary_hours = weeks_of_service × hours_per_week
accrual_per_hour = 4 ÷ 52 = 0.0769231 hours per ordinary hour (5 ÷ 52 = 0.0961538 for shiftworkers)
accrued = ordinary_hours × accrual_per_hour + opening_balance
balance = accrued − taken
days = balance ÷ (hours_per_week ÷ 5); weeks = balance ÷ hours_per_week
value = balance × hourly_rate; loading = value × loading_rate; value_inc = value + loading
per pay: weekly = hours_per_week × accrual_per_hour; fortnightly ×2; monthly = ×52 ÷ 12
Casual → no accrual; card explains the 25% casual loading- Rates as at 2026-09-07 from Nes Leave
How does annual leave accrue in Australia?
Progressively, on ordinary hours, from the first day. The National Employment Standards give every full-time and part-time employee 4 weeks of paid annual leave for each year of service (5 weeks for shiftworkers covered by an award or agreement that provides it). Because it accrues progressively, an employee who works 38 ordinary hours in a week has earned 38 × 4 ÷ 52 = 2.92 hours of leave by the end of it, and the balance grows every pay. Overtime, unpaid leave and unpaid parental leave do not accrue; paid leave, including annual leave itself, does. Balances carry over from year to year with no cap under the NES, although awards can allow an employer to direct excessive leave to be taken.
How do you calculate annual leave for a part-time employee?
At the same rate, on their ordinary hours. A part-time employee on 22.8 hours a week (three 7.6-hour days) accrues 22.8 × 4 ÷ 52 = 1.75 hours a week, or 91.2 hours a year, which is 4 weeks of their own working week. The calculator takes the ordinary weekly hours and the dates and applies the rate; if the hours changed during the period, run it in two parts or start from a known balance using the opening balance field. When a part-time employee takes a day of leave they use the hours they would have worked that day, so 3-day-a-week employees take 7.6 hours per day off, and a week of leave is 22.8 hours.
What is leave loading and who gets it?
Leave loading is an extra payment, most often 17.5% of the base rate, made when annual leave is taken. It is not in the National Employment Standards; it comes from awards and enterprise agreements, where it exists to compensate for the overtime and penalties an employee would have earned had they been at work. Whether it is paid, and whether an employee gets the loading or the penalty rates they would have earned (whichever is higher, under some awards), depends on the award. On termination, accrued leave is paid out with loading if the award would have paid it during employment. The calculator shows the value with and without loading.
How is annual leave paid out on termination?
Every hour of untaken annual leave is paid out at the base rate for ordinary hours on the final pay, with leave loading where the award provides it, and the payment is taxed as a lump sum. There is no minimum service; an employee who leaves after three weeks is paid the leave accrued in those three weeks. Employers who track leave in payroll have the balance ready; the calculator gives the same figure from the dates for a check, or when a balance has to be reconstructed from a start date.
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Weeks of service | 83.29 |
| Ordinary hours worked | 3,164.86 |
| Accrual rate | 0.0769 hours per ordinary hour |
| Accrued | 243.45 hours |
| Taken | 76.00 hours |
| Balance | 167.45 hours (22.03 days, 4.41 weeks) |
| Value at $38.50 | $6,446.85 |
| Leave loading 17.5% | $1,128.20 |
| Value with loading | $7,575.04 |
| Accrual per week / fortnight / year | 2.92 / 5.85 / 152.00 hours |
Frequently asked questions
How many hours of annual leave do you accrue per week?
Ordinary weekly hours × 4 ÷ 52. A 38-hour employee accrues 2.92 hours a week and 152 a year; a 30.4-hour employee (four days) accrues 2.34 hours a week and 121.6 a year. Shiftworkers on 5 weeks accrue 3.65 hours a week on 38 hours. Overtime hours do not count.
Do casual employees get annual leave?
No. Casual employees are not entitled to paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards; they receive a casual loading, 25% under most modern awards, in place of leave and other entitlements. A casual who converts to permanent employment starts accruing from the conversion date.
Does annual leave accrue while on leave?
Yes while on paid leave, including annual leave, personal leave, long service leave and paid parental leave under most arrangements, because those are ordinary hours paid. It does not accrue during unpaid leave, unpaid parental leave or periods of unauthorised absence.
Is there a cap on how much annual leave can be accrued?
Not under the National Employment Standards; leave accumulates from year to year. Many awards let an employer direct an employee with an excessive balance (typically more than 8 weeks) to take leave after consultation, and agreements can add their own rules. The balance sheet provision grows with the balance, which is why payroll reports it.
MYOB Acumatica partner in Brisbane
Leave accruals, loading and the provision on the balance sheet are automatic when payroll runs inside your ERP. Ask us about MYOB Acumatica payroll.
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