Taking annual leave in Australia? Most employees get extra pay on top of their normal wages. It is called leave loading, and it is usually 17.5 percent. Our free leave loading calculator works out exactly how much extra you will get.
Enter your hourly rate and the leave hours you are taking. You will see your base leave pay, the loading amount, and the total in seconds.
How to use the leave loading calculator
- Enter your normal hourly pay rate in AUD.
- Enter how many hours of annual leave you are taking.
- Check the loading rate. It is 17.5 percent for most awards, but you can change it.
- See your base pay, loading amount, and total leave pay.
What is leave loading?
Leave loading is an extra payment Australian employees receive when they take paid annual leave. It was introduced decades ago to make up for lost overtime and shift penalties while workers were on leave.
For most workers covered by modern awards, the loading is 17.5 percent of base pay. Some enterprise agreements set a different rate, which is why our calculator lets you change it. The idea is simple: your time off should not leave you worse off than a normal working week.
How leave loading is calculated
The formula is simple: hourly rate x leave hours x loading percent.
Here is a worked example. Emma earns 35 AUD per hour and takes 38 hours of annual leave, which is one standard week. Her base pay is 1,330 AUD. Leave loading at 17.5 percent adds 232.75 AUD. Her total leave pay is 1,562.75 AUD.
Try her numbers in the calculator above, then enter your own rate and hours. If you take two weeks instead of one, just double the hours and watch the loading grow.
Who gets leave loading?
Most full time and part time employees under modern awards get leave loading. Casual workers usually do not, because their casual loading already covers it.
Always check your award or enterprise agreement. A small number of agreements pay a higher rate, and some roll loading into a higher base rate instead of paying it separately. If your payslip shows a line for leave loading, you are getting it.
Leave loading vs annual leave pay
Annual leave pay is your normal wage for the hours you are off. Leave loading is the bonus paid on top of it.
Think of it this way: annual leave pay replaces the paycheck you would have earned. Leave loading replaces the extras, like overtime and penalties, that you miss while away. Our calculator shows both lines separately, so you can see exactly where the extra money comes from.
Common mistakes with leave loading
- Using your salary instead of your hourly rate. Divide annual salary by 52, then by weekly hours, to get the right hourly figure.
- Forgetting that loading applies per hour of leave. Taking 76 hours instead of 38 doubles the loading, not just the base pay.
- Assuming the rate is always 17.5 percent. Most awards use it, but your agreement may differ. Confirm before you rely on the number.
- Missing it on your payslip. Loading should appear as its own line when you take annual leave. If it is missing, ask payroll.
What to do with your result
Compare the calculator’s total with your payslip the next time you take annual leave. The two should match within rounding. If they do not, you have a concrete number to take to payroll.
Planning a longer break? Combine this with our annual leave calculator to see how many days you can afford to take, and our PTO hours to days calculator to convert hours into weeks off.
Related calculators
- Annual Leave Calculator: track your yearly leave entitlement in days.
- PTO Hours to Days Calculator: convert leave hours into days and weeks.
- Time Off Calculator: the combined balance tracker for all leave types.
- PTO Payout Calculator: what unused leave is worth in cash.