Annual Leave Loading Calculator AU (17.5%)

What this calculator works out

This calculator estimates annual leave loading — the 17.5% extra payment most modern awards add on top of ordinary base pay while an employee is taking paid annual leave. It supports three modes:

• Take accrued leave during employment — work out the gross pay for a typical 4 weeks (or 5 weeks for shift workers), with FTE scaling for part-timers.
• Termination payout — the loading on accrued-but-untaken leave that is paid out in the final pay.
• Current accrued balance — a snapshot of what the loading would be at today's accrual.

It is built around the Fair Work Ombudsman annual leave loading guidance and the Fair Work final pay rules. It does not replace the actual modern award text — the award is the legally binding document.

The formula and where the rates come from

The standard rate of annual leave loading under most modern awards is 17.5% on ordinary base pay during periods of paid annual leave. The 17.5% figure comes from a 1970s industrial-relations settlement to compensate award-covered workers for lost overtime, shift penalties and other allowances during leave.

Loading amount = ordinary weekly pay × weeks of leave × FTE fraction × loading rate

Total pay = ordinary pay + loading

Key rules from Fair Work:

• The National Employment Standards give full-time and part-time employees 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year (5 weeks for some shift workers). Loading sits on top of that 4 weeks.
• For part-timers, weeks scale by the FTE fraction — a 0.6 FTE accrues 2.4 weeks/year.
• Casuals do not get loading. Their 25% casual loading is paid in lieu of paid annual leave entitlements.
• Some modern awards have removed loading and replaced it with higher ordinary rates — check the actual award.
• On termination, loading is generally paid on the accrued-leave payout when it would have been paid had the leave been taken during employment (Fair Work final pay).

How to read the inputs

• Mode — accrued leave taken during employment, termination payout, or pro-rata snapshot.
• Ordinary weekly pay (FTE rate) — the full-time-equivalent weekly base rate. The calculator scales by FTE for part-timers.
• Loading rate — defaults to 0.175 (17.5%). Set lower if your award uses a different figure.
• Weeks of leave per year — 4 for most, 5 for shift workers.
• FTE fraction — 1.0 = full-time, 0.6 = 0.6 FTE.
• Accrued leave balance — used in termination/pro-rata modes.
• Modern award includes loading — uncheck if your award has removed loading and baked it into base rates.
• Casual — zeroes out loading because casual loading is paid in lieu.

Worked examples

1. Full-time employee, $1,500/week, 4 weeks accrued. Ordinary pay = 4 × $1,500 = $6,000. Loading = 17.5% × $6,000 = $1,050. Total $7,050. This is the typical pre-tax figure on the payslip across the leave period.

2. Part-time 0.6 FTE on a $2,000/week FTE rate, takes the full annual entitlement. Weeks = 4 × 0.6 = 2.4. Effective weekly rate = $2,000 × 0.6 = $1,200. Ordinary pay = 2.4 × $1,200 = $2,880. Loading = $504. Total $3,384.

3. Termination payout: 6.5 weeks accrued at $1,200/week, award includes loading. Ordinary = 6.5 × $1,200 = $7,800. Loading = $1,365. Total $9,165 as the gross termination component for accrued leave. Note PAYG withholding on this component follows ATO Schedule 7, not the ordinary salary tables.

4. Casual on $40/hour ordinary rate. Loading = $0 because the 25% casual loading already in the hourly rate is paid in lieu of paid annual leave entitlements. The hypothetical ordinary pay still calculates so payroll can sanity-check.

5. Modern award has removed loading. Even with 4 weeks accrued at $1,500/week, loading = $0 — the 17.5% has been folded into the higher ordinary rate already paid every week, so taking leave produces the same weekly amount as working.

Common pitfalls

• Using the part-time weekly rate but the full-time accrual. Either scale weeks by FTE, or use the FTE weekly rate and let the FTE input do the scaling — don't do both.
• Assuming casuals get loading. They do not. Their 25% casual loading is the in-lieu payment.
• Forgetting to check the award text. A handful of modern awards have removed loading. Fair Work's pay tool and the award PDF on fairwork.gov.au are the source of truth.
• Mis-taxing loading on termination. Loading paid during employment is ordinary PAYG. Loading paid on termination follows ATO Schedule 7 — the rate differs (and may be a flat rate for genuine redundancy).
• Using base hourly rate when the award uses a higher figure for loading purposes. Some awards include certain allowances in the loading base. Read the clause carefully.

Related calculators

• Redundancy Pay Calculator (AU) — NES redundancy weeks ladder for genuine redundancy payouts.
• Long Service Leave Calculator (NSW) — separate LSL entitlement under NSW rules.
• Long Service Leave Calculator (VIC) — VIC LSL Act 2018 (1/60th formula).
• Take Home Pay Calculator (AU) — how PAYG and Medicare hit the loaded amount on the payslip.
• Casual to Permanent Pay Comparison (AU) — sanity-check that the 25% casual loading really does cover annual leave for your situation.

Sources:

• Fair Work Ombudsman — Annual leave loading
• Fair Work Ombudsman — Annual leave
• Fair Work Ombudsman — Pay during paid leave
• Fair Work Ombudsman — Final pay
• ATO — Schedule 7: Tax table for unused leave payments on termination of employment