Annual leave loading calculator (Australia)

Annual leave loading is an extra payment on top of your normal pay while you are on annual leave. It is not part of the National Employment Standards. You only get it if your award, enterprise agreement or contract provides it. The most common rate is 17.5%, but the exact rate and how it works depends on the individual award or agreement.

No, not by the NES alone. The National Employment Standards require you to be paid your base rate of pay for ordinary hours while on annual leave, and that base rate does not include loadings. The 17.5% comes from modern awards, enterprise agreements or contracts. For example, the Miscellaneous Award 2020 says an employee taking paid annual leave must be paid a loading of 17.5% in addition to the payment required by the NES or their ordinary pay for the leave, whichever is greater. Check your own award.

Multiply your hourly rate by the hours of leave to get the base leave pay, then multiply that by the loading percentage. At $30 an hour for 4 weeks of 38 hours (152 hours), base pay is $4,560 and the 17.5% loading is $798, so the total is $5,358 before tax. The calculator above does this for any rate, hours and percentage.

Many awards say you get the higher of a 17.5% loading or the penalty rates you would have earned, such as weekend or shift penalties, not both. The Fair Work Ombudsman gives the Retail Award as an example: the higher of a 17.5% loading on the employee's minimum hourly rate, or the weekend or shift penalty rates. The Road Transport Award gives shiftworkers the higher of 17.5% or the shift loading. Choose the higher-of option above and enter your weekly penalty amount to compare.

Usually yes, where it would have been paid if you had taken the leave. Under section 90 of the Fair Work Act 2009, when employment ends the employer must pay out unused annual leave at the amount that would have been payable had the leave been taken. The Fair Work Ombudsman says unused leave is paid out as if taken during employment, including any applicable loading. Loading may not apply if it is built into an annualised wage or covered by a contractual offsetting arrangement, so check your award or agreement.

That depends on the award or agreement. Some calculate it on the minimum hourly rate only. For example, the Retail Award example from the Fair Work Ombudsman applies the 17.5% to the employee's minimum hourly rate. Others may include other amounts. This calculator applies the percentage to the hourly rate you enter, so enter the rate your award says the loading is based on.

No. Casual employees are not entitled to paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards, so there is no annual leave to load. Casuals are usually paid a casual loading in their hourly rate instead, which is a separate thing set by their award or agreement.

Sometimes. The Fair Work Ombudsman notes that annual leave loading may not be payable on top if it has been incorporated into an annualised wage arrangement or covered by a contractual offsetting arrangement. These arrangements have conditions, so if you think your loading has been rolled into your pay, check your award and contract or contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.