Paid time off usually builds up as you work, not all at once on January 1. With 20 days a year, after 7 months you have earned 20 × 7 ÷ 12 = 11.67 days; if you have taken 5, you still have 6.67 days (53 hours) to use. Choose whether your PTO accrues by time worked or by hours worked, enter your allowance and what you have used, and the calculator gives the balance, the accrual rate per hour and the amount added with each weekly, biweekly or semi-monthly paycheck.
Accrual rates for a 40-hour week
| PTO days a year | Per month | Hours per month | PTO per hour worked | Hours worked per PTO hour | Hours per biweekly paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 0.833 days | 6.67 h | 0.03846 h | 26 | 3.08 h |
| 15 | 1.25 days | 10 h | 0.05769 h | 17.3 | 4.62 h |
| 20 | 1.667 days | 13.33 h | 0.07692 h | 13 | 6.15 h |
| 25 | 2.083 days | 16.67 h | 0.09615 h | 10.4 | 7.69 h |
| 30 | 2.5 days | 20 h | 0.11538 h | 8.7 | 9.23 h |
A 2,080-hour year is 40 hours × 52 weeks. For a 37.5-hour week, use 1,950; for part-time work, your own yearly hours.
Two ways employers count
- By time worked: a share of the year’s allowance for each month (or pay period) of employment. Common for salaried staff, and how most European contracts pro-rate leave for a partial year.
- By hours worked: a fixed number of PTO hours for each hour on the clock, so overtime and extra shifts earn more and unpaid time earns less. Common for hourly jobs in the United States.
The results show both views, so you can compare them with your payslip.
Planning time off
If you know the date you want to travel, the add days calculator and the days between dates calculator help you see how many more weeks of accrual you will have by then. Nothing you type leaves your device, and the calculator works offline.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate PTO earned so far?
Multiply your yearly allowance by the months worked and divide by 12. With 20 days a year, after 7 months you have earned 20 × 7 ÷ 12 = 11.67 days.
How is PTO accrued per hour worked?
Divide the PTO hours in a year by the hours of a full working year. 15 days of 8 hours is 120 hours; over 2,080 working hours (40 a week × 52) that is 0.0577 hours of PTO for every hour worked, or one hour of PTO for every 17.3 hours.
How much PTO do I earn per paycheck?
The yearly PTO hours divided by the number of paychecks. 20 days (160 hours) a year is 6.15 hours per biweekly paycheck (26 a year) or 6.67 hours per semi-monthly one (24 a year).
What happens to PTO when I leave a job?
It depends on your contract, your employer's policy and the law where you work: in some places unused vacation must be paid out, in others it can be lost. Your HR department or the labor authority where you work has the rules that apply.
Why does my payslip show a slightly different number?
Employers may round to whole or half days, accrue only after a waiting period, cap the balance or count paid holidays differently. The calculator does the arithmetic; your policy decides the rounding.
Last checked: