Australia Annual Leave Calculator
Work out how much paid annual leave you've accrued under the National Employment Standards — for full-time and part-time employees. Enter your details and your balance updates instantly.
Calculate your annual leave balance
Based on Australian employment standards. Results update automatically as you type.
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About annual leave in Australia
Under the National Employment Standards (NES), full-time and part-time employees are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave each year, based on their ordinary hours of work. Certain shift workers are entitled to five weeks.
Annual leave starts accruing from your first day of employment and builds up progressively throughout the year. Unlike sick leave, any unused annual leave is paid out when your employment ends. Casual employees don't accrue paid annual leave — their 25% casual loading is designed to compensate for this.
How is annual leave calculated
Your leave is based on your ordinary hours, not a fixed number of days. This keeps it fair whether you work standard weekday hours or a part-time pattern.
Full-time example (38 hrs/week):
38 × 4 = 152 hours per year — 20 days on a 5-day week.Part-time example (22.8 hrs/week over 3 days):
22.8 × 4 = 91.2 hours per year — 12 days. How annual leave accrues
Leave doesn't land in your balance all at once — it accrues continuously from day one. For a full-time employee on 38 hours a week, that works out to roughly:
Unused leave carries over year to year. Where an employee has an excessive balance (often more than 8 weeks accrued), an employer may — subject to the relevant award or agreement — direct them to take some of it.
Different situations
Casuals
Casuals aren't entitled to paid sick leave. However, they are entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion to look after immediate family members. The reason you get the 25% casual loading is to cover not getting any leave entitlements.
Running out
If you run out of sick leave, you can take unpaid leave or take annual leave (with your employer's agreement). You may also be covered by income protection insurance if you have this available.
Mental health
Taking time off work to deal with your mental health is valid. Conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression and burnout are legitimate reasons to take sick leave. Mental illness is treated the same as physical illness under Australian law.
This calculator provides a general estimate of annual leave entitlements under the National Employment Standards and is for information only. It isn't legal or financial advice. Your actual entitlements depend on your award, enterprise agreement or employment contract. For your specific situation, check your payslip or the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au). MediLeave does not accept responsibility for decisions made based on this tool.
