PTO & Holiday Accrual Calculator
An accrual plan releases leave in proportion to hours worked. That is why part-time staff earn at the same rate per hour rather than being excluded — they simply earn it more slowly.
Days available
7.50days
- Days available
- 7.50
- Hours available
- 60.00
- Accrued so far
- 100.00 hours
- Earned per hour worked
- 0.0962 hours
- Per 40-hour week
- 3.85 hours
- An accrual plan releases leave in proportion to hours worked, which is why part-time staff earn at the same rate per hour rather than being excluded.
- Whether unused leave carries over, expires or is paid out depends on your contract and on local law, and the rules differ sharply between countries. Enter any carried balance above rather than assuming it survives.
About leave accrual
The mechanism is a rate per hour worked. An entitlement of 25 days at 8 hours is 200 hours of leave a year, earned across the 2,080 hours a full-time year contains — so 0.0962 hours of leave for every hour worked, or 3.85 hours for every 40-hour week.
Half way through a year, someone full-time has worked 1,040 hours and accrued 100 hours of leave. Take 40 of those and 60 remain, which is 7.5 days.
Expressing it per hour rather than per month is what makes it work for everyone. The entitlement you enter is your own — part-time entitlements are normally pro-rated in days already — and it is then spread evenly across your own working year. Somebody on 20 hours a week with a 12.5-day entitlement accrues 1.92 hours a week, and reaches it in exactly a year.
The alternative arrangement grants the full entitlement at the start of the year, which is simpler and means a balance can legitimately go negative if someone takes leave early and then leaves. Both are common, and which you are on determines whether a negative balance here is a problem or just an artefact of the date.
What happens to unused leave — carried over, expired, or paid out — depends on your contract and on local law, and the rules differ sharply between countries. Enter any carried balance rather than assuming it survives.
What it works out
- Leave accrued from hours worked
- The balance after leave taken and carried over
- The accrual rate per hour and per week
- Any entitlement and any working pattern
The formula
Rate = (Days × Hours per day) ÷ (Hours a week × 52) Balance = Carried + (Rate × Hours worked) − Used
Twenty-five days at eight hours is 200 hours of leave. A 40-hour week across 52 weeks is 2,080 hours worked. Two hundred divided by 2,080 is 0.0962 hours of leave per hour worked.
That rate times 1,040 hours worked gives 100 hours accrued. Less the 40 already taken, the balance is 60 hours — or 7.5 days at eight hours a day.
Multiply the rate by 40 and you get 3.85 hours of leave earned per full-time week, which is the figure most payroll systems show on a payslip and the easiest one to sanity-check against.
The rate is per hour, so nothing special is needed for a mid-year start or a change in hours — the accrual simply follows the hours actually worked.
For part-time work, enter your own entitlement rather than the full-time one. Part-time leave is normally pro-rated in days already: someone on 20 hours a week against a full-time 25 days would have 12.5 days, which spread across their own 1,040-hour year is 1.92 hours a week.
- Days
- Annual entitlement in days.
- Hours per day
- What one day of leave is worth in hours.
- Hours a week
- Your contracted pattern, used to work out a full year of hours.
- Hours worked
- This leave year so far. What drives the accrual.
A worked example
25 days of entitlement on a 40-hour week, half way through the year with 40 hours of leave already taken.
That works out to 7.50 days.
- Days available
- 7.50
- Hours available
- 60.00
- Accrued so far
- 100.00 hours
- Earned per hour worked
- 0.0962 hours
- Per 40-hour week
- 3.85 hours
Questions
How does PTO accrual work?
You earn leave in proportion to hours worked. An entitlement of 25 days at 8 hours over a 2,080-hour year is 0.0962 hours of leave per hour worked, or 3.85 hours per 40-hour week.
How much leave have I earned so far?
The accrual rate times the hours you have worked this leave year. Half way through a full-time year on 25 days, that is 100 hours — twelve and a half days.
How does it work part-time?
Enter your own entitlement, which is normally already pro-rated — someone on 20 hours a week against a full-time 25 days would have 12.5. It is then spread across your own working year, so you reach it in exactly a year like anyone else.
Can my balance go negative?
On a strict accrual plan, no — you can only take what you have earned. On a plan that grants the year up front, yes, and leaving mid-year having taken more than you accrued can mean it is recovered from final pay.
What is the difference between accrual and front-loading?
Accrual releases leave gradually as you work; front-loading grants the whole year on day one. Front-loading is simpler and more generous early in the year; accrual is fairer on mid-year joiners and leavers.
Does unused leave carry over?
It depends entirely on your contract and local law. Some places require a minimum to carry, some allow expiry, and some require payment on leaving. Enter any carried balance above rather than assuming it survives.
Does leave accrue while I am on leave?
Usually yes on paid leave, since those hours generally count as hours worked for accrual. Unpaid leave commonly does not accrue. This calculates from hours worked, so include paid leave hours if your plan does.