Leave Entitlement CalculatorAnnual leave pay calculator (Australia)
Work out what your annual leave is worth in money: ordinary hours paid at your base rate, plus leave loading only where your award, enterprise agreement or contract actually gives it.
Australia. Fair Work Act 2009, National Employment Standards — 4 weeks of paid annual leave a year, 5 for a defined shiftworker. Rules checked 15 September 2026.
What to do next
Annual leave payout when leaving a job
Start with the unused ordinary hours in your annual leave balance, multiply them by your base rate, then add any annual leave loading that would have applied if you had taken the leave. The result from this calculator is a gross estimate before tax. Fair Work's final pay guidance confirms that an employee must be paid for untaken annual leave, including annual leave loading if it would have applied during employment.
This is not a complete final-pay or after-tax calculator. Final wages, notice, redundancy pay and long service leave are separate. Check your unused hours with the annual leave balance calculator, and use the long service leave calculator only if that separate entitlement may apply.
What the law says about the rate
Section 90(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 says paid annual leave is paid at the employee's base rate of pay for the ordinary hours in the period of leave. The base rate excludes overtime, penalty rates, most allowances, loadings and bonuses. Section 90(2) says an untaken balance is paid out on termination at the same rate.
Annual leave loading is not part of the National Employment Standards. Around 17.5% is common in awards, but it applies only where an award, enterprise agreement or contract provides it — so this calculator applies nothing until you say your agreement gives it and enter the percentage yourself.
Worked examples
Two weeks full-time, no loading
76 hours at A$32.50 = A$2,470.00 gross. That is the NES minimum position where no award loading applies.
The same two weeks with 17.5% award loading
A$2,470.00 base plus A$432.25 loading = A$2,902.25 gross.
A part-time day
7.6 hours at A$28.00 = A$212.80 gross for one day of leave.
Limits of this tool
- Figures are gross, before tax. Lump-sum payouts are often taxed differently.
- It does not check whether your base rate meets your award or the national minimum wage.
- Shift penalties, allowances and commission are excluded from the base rate, but some agreements pay leave at a higher rate — check yours.
- Casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave under the NES.
- It tells you what an amount works out to. It does not decide what your employer legally owes you — the Fair Work Ombudsman does that.
Common questions
- What counts as my base rate of pay?
- The rate for your ordinary hours of work, excluding overtime, penalty rates, allowances, loadings and bonuses. That is the minimum rate annual leave must be paid at under the National Employment Standards.
- Do I get 17.5% leave loading?
- Only if an award, enterprise agreement or your contract gives it. Leave loading is not part of the National Employment Standards, so it is switched off here unless you turn it on.
- Is unused leave paid out when I leave?
- Yes. Section 90(2) of the Fair Work Act requires the amount that would have been payable had the leave been taken. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s current position is that annual leave loading is paid out on termination even where an award, enterprise agreement or contract says it is not. This tool shows the base-rate amount, and the loading figure only if you switch loading on.
- Is this figure before or after tax?
- Before. All amounts here are gross. Lump-sum leave payments can also be taxed differently from ordinary pay, so check with the ATO or your payroll team.
Other Australia tools
Official sources
Rules checked 15 September 2026. General information, not legal advice.