Annual Leave Calculator Australia

Annual Leave Entitlements in Australia

Under the National Employment Standards (NES), full-time and part-time employees in Australia are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave per year, based on their ordinary hours of work. Shift workers covered by certain awards or agreements may receive five weeks. Annual leave accrues progressively throughout the year and accumulates from year to year if not taken.

Our annual leave calculator helps you work out how much leave you have accrued based on your start date, employment type, and any leave already taken. This is useful for planning holidays, understanding your entitlements when changing jobs, or checking your leave balance against your payslip.

How Annual Leave Accrues

For a full-time employee working 38 hours per week, annual leave accrues at a rate of approximately 2.923 hours per week, or 0.0769 hours per ordinary hour worked. Part-time employees accrue leave on a pro-rata basis proportional to their ordinary hours.

Leave begins accruing from your first day of employment and continues to accumulate even during periods of paid leave (such as annual leave, personal leave, or long service leave). However, it does not accrue during unpaid leave unless your award or agreement states otherwise.

Annual Leave Loading

Many Australian employees are entitled to annual leave loading — an extra payment on top of their base rate while on leave. The standard loading is 17.5%, though this varies by award and enterprise agreement. Some agreements offer a higher base rate instead of loading, in which case you receive whichever option pays more.

When your employment ends, any accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out at your base rate of pay (leave loading on termination depends on your award). Our calculator accounts for loading so you can see exactly what your leave is worth in dollar terms.