# Leave Loading Calculator

> Annual leave loading calculator for Australia: set your own percentage, compare it against penalty rates, and check whether your award gives the entitlement at all.

## Key facts

- A 17.5% annual leave loading adds $931 to four weeks of leave for someone on $35 an hour over a 38 hour week, taking the leave period from $5,320 to $6,251.
- The Fair Work Ombudsman states that annual leave loading does not apply to all employees and depends on what their award or enterprise agreement says, so the first question is entitlement, not arithmetic.
- Where an award pays the higher of the loading or the penalties an employee normally receives, a 20% weekend penalty beats a 17.5% loading: $1,064 rather than $931 on the same four weeks at $35 an hour.

## Key pages

- [Annual leave loading calculator, checked against your award](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/): the main tool, answer above the fold.
- [Is annual leave loading compulsory in Australia?](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/is-annual-leave-loading-compulsory/): Leave loading is an award or enterprise agreement entitlement, not a National Employment Standards right. How to check whether you have it, and when it stops applying.
- [Is annual leave loading paid on termination in Australia?](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/annual-leave-loading-on-termination/): When employment ends, unused annual leave is paid as if it had been taken, including loading. What the Fair Work Ombudsman says, and why a contract cannot override it.
- [Does annual leave loading attract superannuation?](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/annual-leave-loading-and-superannuation/): The ATO's position: leave loading is included in super calculations unless it is clearly linked to lost overtime, and excluding it needs written evidence.
- [Annual leave loading at 17.5%, four weeks of leave](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/#data): original data table, updated 2026-08-15.
- [Full site content as markdown](https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/llms-full.txt)

## Data

- Annual leave loading at 17.5%, four weeks of leave. Methodology: Computed with this page's own formulas: base weekly pay is the hourly rate times 38 ordinary hours, base pay is that times four weeks, loading is 17.5% of base pay, and no weekend or shift penalties are compared. Gross figures, before PAYG withholding. 17.5% is used because it is the figure the Fair Work Ombudsman's library article repeatedly cites from awards, not because it is a legal minimum.
- Last updated: 2026-08-15. Every figure cites its source inline.
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, payment for annual leave: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/annual-leave/payment-for-annual-leave
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman library, annual leave loading in awards and agreements: https://library.fairwork.gov.au/viewer/?krn=K600323
- Source: ATO, superannuation on annual leave loading: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/quarterly-super-to-30-june-2026/how-much-super-to-pay/list-of-payments-that-are-ordinary-time-earnings/superannuation-on-annual-leave-loading
- Source: ATO, what payments are qualifying earnings: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/paying-super-on-payday/what-payments-are-qualifying-earnings
- Source: ATO, super guarantee rates and thresholds: https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/key-superannuation-rates-and-thresholds/super-guarantee
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, minimum wages: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay-and-wages/minimum-wages

## Citation

Cite as: "Annual leave loading at 17.5%, four weeks of leave", Leave Loading Calculator, https://leaveloadingcalculator.com/ (updated 2026-08-15).

## About

- Leave Loading Calculator is an information site. It is not affiliated with the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission or the Australian Taxation Office, and nothing here is legal, workplace relations or tax advice. Your entitlement comes from your own award, enterprise agreement or contract, so read that instrument or take advice before relying on any figure.
- Operated by leaveloadingcalculator.com. Contact: enquiries@leaveloadingcalculator.com