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Leave Entitlement Calculator

Annual leave calculator Australia

Work out paid annual leave under the Fair Work Act National Employment Standards — four weeks a year, five for a defined shiftworker — including how much has built up so far on your ordinary hours. Every answer shows the workings.

Rules checked 15 September 2026 against the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Fair Work Ombudsman. Working in the UK instead? Use the UK holiday entitlement calculator.

Your normal hours, not counting overtime. A standard full-time week is 38 hours.

Add this to also see the answer in days rather than hours.

Leave builds up from your first day of service.

Enter your ordinary weekly hours and select “Work out my annual leave”. Your answer and the full workings appear here.

How the calculation works

Section 87 of the Fair Work Act 2009 gives every employee other than a casual four weeks of paid annual leave for each year of service, or five weeks for an employee who meets the shiftworker definition in their award or agreement. Leave is measured against your ordinary hours of work, not overtime, and it accrues progressively through the year rather than arriving all at once. Anything not taken carries over to the next year.

So a full-time employee on 38 ordinary hours a week accrues 38 × 4 = 152 hours a year. Half a year of service gives roughly half of that. The calculator works the balance out day by day across the year of service.

Worked examples

Full-time, 38 hours a week

38 × 4 = 152 hours a year, which is 20 working days for someone on five 7.6-hour days.

Part-time, 22.8 hours a week

22.8 × 4 = 91.2 hours a year. Part-time employees get the same four weeks; the hours are simply smaller.

Shiftworker, 38 hours a week

38 × 5 = 190 hours a year. The extra week applies only where the award or agreement defines you as a shiftworker.

Six months of service

Starting 1 January on 38 hours a week, by 30 June that is 181 days of service: 152 × 181 / 365 = 75.38 hours built up.

Leave and pay are different things

This page works out time off. Annual leave is paid at your base rate of pay for your ordinary hours. Annual leave loading — often 17.5% — is not part of the National Employment Standards; it comes from an award, enterprise agreement or your contract, so check yours rather than assuming it applies.

Who this covers, and who it does not

  • Casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards — casual loading is paid instead.
  • Long service leave is state and territory law, not the NES, and is not calculated here.
  • Public holidays are separate. A public holiday during your annual leave is not deducted from your balance.
  • Unpaid leave generally does not count as service, so it does not build up annual leave.
  • Cashing out, personal/carer's leave and parental leave are outside this tool.
  • Awards, enterprise agreements and contracts can be more generous than the minimum — always check yours.

Official sources

General information based on published Fair Work Ombudsman guidance and the Fair Work Act, not legal advice.

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