Annual Leave Calculator Australia
Estimate annual leave accrued under the National Employment Standards, then adjust for carried leave, non-accruing unpaid leave and leave already used. Results are shown in hours, working weeks and equivalent workdays.
Calculate your annual leave accrual
Use ordinary hours, not overtime. Adjustments are optional.
Quick answer: Most full-time and part-time employees in Australia get 4 weeks of paid annual leave each year based on ordinary hours of work. Some shiftworkers receive an additional week. Annual leave starts accruing from the first day of employment, builds progressively, and unused leave generally carries over.
How the Australian annual leave calculation works
The NES expresses annual leave in weeks, but payroll systems usually track it in hours. The calculator converts the statutory entitlement into hours using your ordinary weekly hours, then pro-rates it over the period you enter.
Set the entitlement
Use 4 weeks for most permanent employees. Use 5 only where the extra shiftworker week actually applies.
Apply ordinary hours
A 38-hour employee on 4 weeks accrues 152 hours in a full year. A 20-hour employee accrues 80.
Adjust the balance
Subtract non-accruing unpaid leave and leave used; add any carried balance you already had.
This makes the calculator useful for a new starter checking a few months of accrual, a part-time employee checking a balance in hours, or an employee who has leave carried forward from an earlier year. It is still an estimate: if your ordinary hours changed during the period, calculate each working pattern separately and add the results.
Annual leave entitlement under the NES
These are the national minimum rules the calculator is built around.
Full-time and part-time employees receive 4 weeks of annual leave based on their ordinary hours. The entitlement begins from the first day of employment—even during probation—and accumulates progressively rather than arriving as a lump sum once a year. Awards and enterprise agreements cannot undercut the NES minimum, although they can provide something more generous.
The 5-week shiftworker rule is narrower than it sounds
Working nights, weekends or rotating shifts does not automatically give an employee 5 weeks of annual leave. If an award or registered agreement applies, it needs to identify the employee as a shiftworker for the additional NES week. Award-and-agreement-free employees have a separate statutory test involving continuously rostered shifts, regular participation in those shifts, and regular Sunday and public-holiday work.
Full-year annual leave in hours
The “4 weeks” rule produces a different number of hours depending on ordinary weekly hours. That is why comparing leave balances only in days can be misleading.
| Ordinary hours/week | 4-week entitlement | 5-week entitlement | 4-week weekly accrual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 152 hours | 190 hours | 2.923 hrs/week |
| 37.5 | 150 hours | 187.5 hours | 2.885 hrs/week |
| 30 | 120 hours | 150 hours | 2.308 hrs/week |
| 20 | 80 hours | 100 hours | 1.538 hrs/week |
| 15 | 60 hours | 75 hours | 1.154 hrs/week |
Part-time employees are not given a smaller legal “percentage” of annual leave. They still receive four weeks of their own ordinary working pattern. Someone who ordinarily works 20 hours each week therefore accrues 80 hours over a full year—four of their 20-hour weeks.
When annual leave keeps accruing—and when it does not
One of the easiest ways to get a balance wrong is to treat every week away from work the same way.
Paid annual leave, paid sick/carer’s leave, paid family and domestic violence leave, community service leave including jury duty, and long service leave.
Unpaid annual leave, unpaid sick/carer’s leave, unpaid parental leave, and periods of annual leave that have been cashed out.
If a period did not accrue annual leave, enter it in the calculator as non-accruing unpaid leave. For workers’ compensation, accrual can depend on the applicable workers’ compensation law and circumstances, so the state or territory position needs to be checked separately.
Worked examples
These examples show how the same NES rule behaves across different working patterns.
38 × 4 = 152 hours for a full year. Half a year gives 152 × 26/52 = 76 hours, equal to 2 working weeks.
22 × 4 = 88 hours/year. Nine months is three-quarters of a year, so estimated accrual is 66 hours.
38 × 5 = 190 hours for a full year. Use this only if the extra NES shiftworker week applies.
If 40 hours were already banked and 76 more accrued, then 24 hours were taken, the estimated current balance is 92 hours.
Leave loading, cashing out and final pay
Annual leave entitlement and the amount paid for that leave are related, but they are not the same calculation.
Annual leave loading
Leave loading is not a universal NES percentage. Many awards provide it—often 17.5%—but the exact rule depends on the applicable award, enterprise agreement or contract. Calculate the leave balance here first, then use the Leave Loading Calculator for the payment layer.
Cashing out annual leave
Annual leave can only be cashed out where the relevant rules allow it. A written agreement is required and the employee must generally retain at least 4 weeks of annual leave after the cash-out. Most awards also limit cashing out to no more than 2 weeks in a 12-month period. An employer cannot force or pressure an employee to cash out annual leave.
Unused annual leave when employment ends
Unused annual leave is paid out when employment ends. The payment must reflect what the employee would have received had the leave been taken during employment, including applicable annual leave loading or other required payments. For a broader estimate, use the Termination Pay Calculator.
Common mistakes that distort an annual leave balance
Most errors come from using a technically neat formula with the wrong inputs.
- !Using overtime instead of ordinary hours. The NES annual leave entitlement is based on ordinary hours of work, not every hour that appears on a timesheet.
- !Treating all shiftworkers as 5-week employees. The extra week depends on the applicable award/agreement definition or the award-free test.
- !Stopping accrual during paid annual or sick leave. Annual leave generally keeps accruing during those paid absences.
- !Forgetting carried leave. Unused annual leave normally rolls forward instead of resetting at the end of the year.
- !Assuming casual loading creates a leave balance. Genuine casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave under the NES.
- !Using one average when ordinary hours changed. If you moved from full-time to part-time, calculate each period at the hours that applied then.
Annual leave calculator FAQs
Short answers to the questions that most often sit behind an annual leave calculation.
Do casual employees get paid annual leave?
No. Genuine casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave under the NES. Casual loading is paid instead of several paid leave entitlements.
How much annual leave do full-time employees get in Australia?
Most full-time employees receive 4 weeks of paid annual leave each year based on their ordinary hours. Some eligible shiftworkers receive an additional week.
How much annual leave do part-time employees accrue?
Part-time employees receive 4 weeks of their own ordinary working pattern. For example, 20 ordinary hours per week produces 80 annual leave hours over a full year.
Does annual leave start accruing during probation?
Yes. Annual leave starts accumulating from the first day of employment, including while an employee is on probation.
Does unused annual leave expire at the end of the year?
No. Unused annual leave generally carries over from year to year rather than resetting on 31 December or an employment anniversary.
Does annual leave accrue while I am on paid sick leave?
Generally yes. Fair Work guidance states that annual leave continues to accumulate while an employee is on paid sick and carer’s leave.
Can I cash out annual leave?
Sometimes. The applicable award or enterprise agreement must allow it, or the employee must be award/agreement free and meet the statutory conditions. A written agreement is required and at least 4 weeks generally has to remain.
Can an employer make me take annual leave?
Only in certain circumstances and subject to the applicable award, enterprise agreement or award-free rules. Common examples include some shutdowns and excessive leave balances.
Is annual leave paid out when I resign or am dismissed?
Yes. Unused annual leave must be paid out when employment ends. Required leave loading or other amounts that would have applied when taking the leave may also need to be included.
What counts as an excessive annual leave balance?
Under many awards, a balance is typically considered excessive above 8 weeks, or 10 weeks for a shiftworker. The exact award or agreement rules should still be checked.
Official rule sources used
This page is written around current Fair Work Ombudsman guidance and the Fair Work Act 2009 provisions dealing with annual leave.
Fair Work Ombudsman — Annual leave; Annual leave fact sheet; Cashing out annual leave; Payment for annual leave; Directing an employee to take annual leave. Fair Work Act 2009, including sections 86–94.
Related Australia calculators
Use the annual leave result as the starting point when you need the payment, final-pay or broader entitlement calculation.