Leave and family

Calculating annual and personal leave accrual

Under the National Employment Standards, full-time and part-time employees accrue 4 weeks of paid annual leave (5 weeks for award-defined shiftworkers) and 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave for each year of service, progressively, according to their ordinary hours (Fair Work Act 2009 ss 87 and 96). In hourly terms that is 1/13 of ordinary hours for annual leave and 1/26 for personal/carer’s leave. Casual employees accrue neither.

Updated 5 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.

How much leave does an employee accrue each year?

Each year of service earns 4 weeks of paid annual leave, or 5 weeks for an employee an award or enterprise agreement defines as a shiftworker for NES purposes, plus 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave. Both accrue progressively by ordinary hours and roll over from year to year.

The rules are in s 87 (annual leave) and s 96 (personal/carer’s leave) of the Fair Work Act 2009, which apply to national system employees other than casuals (ss 86 and 95). Accrual starts on the first day of employment, including during probation. Awards, enterprise agreements and contracts can give more, never less.

Accrual is based on ordinary hours only. Overtime does not earn extra leave, and two employees working the same ordinary hours accrue the same leave even if one spreads them over 4 days and the other over 5.

What are the hourly accrual rates for a full-time employee?

For a full-time employee on 38 ordinary hours a week, annual leave accrues at 0.076923 hours per ordinary hour worked (152 hours a year) and personal/carer’s leave at 0.038462 hours per ordinary hour (76 hours a year).

Working, on a 52-week year:

Ordinary hours in a year: 38 × 52 = 1,976 hours.
Annual leave: 4 weeks × 38 hours = 152 hours. Rate: 152 ÷ 1,976 = 0.076923 per ordinary hour, which is exactly 1/13. Per week: 152 ÷ 52 = 2.923 hours; per fortnight 5.846 hours.
Personal/carer’s leave: 10 days × 7.6 hours = 76 hours. Rate: 76 ÷ 1,976 = 0.038462 per ordinary hour, exactly 1/26. Per week: 76 ÷ 52 = 1.462 hours.
Shiftworker (5 weeks): 5 × 38 = 190 hours. Rate: 190 ÷ 1,976 = 0.096154 per ordinary hour (5/52). Per week 3.654 hours.

The Fair Work Ombudsman expresses personal/carer’s leave the same way: 1/26 of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a year, which is 76 hours for a 38-hour week.

How do I calculate leave for part-time employees?

Apply the same rates to the part-timer’s ordinary hours: annual leave is 1/13 of ordinary hours and personal/carer’s leave is 1/26. A 20-hour-a-week employee accrues 80 hours of annual leave and 40 hours of personal/carer’s leave a year.

Annual accrual by weekly ordinary hours (52-week year)
Ordinary hours per week	Annual leave per year	Personal/carer's leave per year	Annual leave per week
38 (full-time)	38 × 4 = 152 hours	1,976 ÷ 26 = 76 hours	2.923 hours
30.4 (4 days of 7.6)	30.4 × 4 = 121.6 hours	1,580.8 ÷ 26 = 60.8 hours	2.338 hours
22.8 (3 days of 7.6)	22.8 × 4 = 91.2 hours	1,185.6 ÷ 26 = 45.6 hours	1.754 hours
20	20 × 4 = 80 hours	1,040 ÷ 26 = 40 hours	1.538 hours

If a part-timer’s hours vary, accrue on the ordinary hours actually worked or paid each pay period rather than a fixed weekly figure. Hours above their agreed ordinary hours that the award treats as overtime do not accrue leave.

Which absences count as service for leave accrual?

Paid leave and community service leave count as service, so leave keeps accruing. Unpaid leave, unpaid parental leave and unauthorised absences do not count (s 22(2)), so no leave accrues for those hours, although continuous service is not broken.

Accrues: paid annual leave, paid personal/carer’s leave, paid family and domestic violence leave, community service leave including jury duty, and long service leave (Fair Work Ombudsman).
Does not accrue: unpaid annual leave, unpaid personal/carer’s leave, unpaid parental leave (including while the employee receives government Paid Parental Leave), and periods of annual leave that have been cashed out.
Workers compensation: under s 130 an employee does not take or accrue NES leave while absent and receiving workers compensation, unless the state or territory compensation law permits it. Check the scheme in the employee’s state.

Example: a full-time employee takes 2 weeks (76 ordinary hours) of unpaid leave. They miss 76 × 1/13 = 5.846 hours of annual leave and 76 × 1/26 = 2.923 hours of personal/carer’s leave.

Do casual employees accrue paid leave?

No. Casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave or paid personal/carer’s leave; they receive a casual loading instead, which is 25% for casuals on the national minimum wage and under most awards.

Casuals are still entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion, unpaid compassionate leave and 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year (s 106A). If a casual converts to permanent part-time or full-time employment, annual and personal/carer’s leave start accruing from the conversion date. The casual vs part-time calculator compares the cost of both arrangements.

When do I pay annual leave loading?

Annual leave loading is not an NES entitlement. It is payable only if the employee’s award, enterprise agreement or contract provides for it, commonly 17.5% of the base rate, sometimes compared against shift loadings.

The NES requires annual leave to be paid at the employee’s base rate for their ordinary hours (s 90). Check the award’s annual leave clause for any loading and how it interacts with shift penalties; the Fair Work Ombudsman has an award-by-award lookup. Certain types of paid leave are also qualifying earnings for super, so they flow into each payday’s contribution under Payday Super.

Example: an employee on a $32.00 base rate takes one week (38 hours) of leave with a 17.5% loading. Leave pay is 38 × $32.00 = $1,216.00; loading is $1,216.00 × 17.5% = $212.80; total $1,428.80. Untaken leave paid out on termination must include any loading the employee would have received (final pay rules).

Can employees cash out accrued leave?

Annual leave can be cashed out only under an award or agreement term, or a written agreement with an award/agreement-free employee, and the employee must keep at least 4 weeks. Personal/carer’s leave can be cashed out only under an award or agreement term, leaving at least 15 days.

Each cashing out needs a separate written agreement, and the payment must be at least what the employee would have received for taking the leave (ss 93, 94 and 101).
Example: a full-time employee holds 200 hours of annual leave. The 4-week floor is 152 hours, so at most 200 − 152 = 48 hours can be cashed out.
For personal/carer’s leave the 15-day floor is 15 × 7.6 = 114 hours for a 38-hour employee.
Keep the signed agreement with your employment records.

Long service leave is set mainly by state and territory laws, not the NES, and each has its own qualifying period and accrual method. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s long service leave page lists the agency for each state.

Questions

How many hours of annual leave does a full-time employee get?

A full-time employee on 38 ordinary hours a week accrues 152 hours of annual leave a year, or 190 hours if they are a shiftworker entitled to 5 weeks.

What is the sick leave accrual rate per hour worked?

Personal/carer’s leave accrues at 1/26 of ordinary hours, which is 0.038462 hours per ordinary hour. For a 38-hour week that is 76 hours a year.

Does leave accrue during overtime?

No. NES leave accrues on ordinary hours of work only, so overtime hours do not increase annual or personal/carer’s leave.

Does leave accrue while an employee is on workers compensation?

Under s 130 of the Fair Work Act, NES leave does not accrue during a workers compensation absence unless the relevant state or territory compensation law allows it.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.