If you work part-time in Australia, you are entitled to paid annual leave just like a full-time employee — only on a pro-rata basis. That means your leave is scaled to your ordinary hours, not to a standard 38-hour week. Annual leave loading works the same way: where your award, enterprise agreement or contract provides it, you receive an extra percentage on top of your base pay for the leave period, calculated on your part-time hours.
Despite this, loading causes confusion: some part-time employees assume they miss out because they do not work full-time, while others expect it to appear as a separate payslip balance. This guide explains how it works, how it is calculated, and what to check in your own arrangement.
If you want a quick estimate of your own leave entitlement, try the annual leave calculator to work out your pro-rata hours, and the salary to hourly calculator if you need to convert an annual salary into an hourly rate first.
What Is Annual Leave Loading?
Annual leave loading is an extra payment made on top of your ordinary base pay while you are on paid annual leave. It is most commonly 17.5% of base pay for the leave period. For example, if your base pay for four weeks of leave would be $2,400, a 17.5% loading adds $420, bringing your total leave pay to $2,820.
It is important to understand one key point: the National Employment Standards (NES) themselves do not mandate annual leave loading. The NES gives permanent employees the right to paid annual leave, but loading only applies if it is provided by the applicable modern award, enterprise agreement or employment contract. If none of those instruments provides for loading, you are still entitled to your base pay for leave, but not to the extra 17.5%.
Some awards go further than a flat 17.5%. Under some awards, an employee receives the greater of 17.5% of base pay or the shift and weekend penalties they would have earned had they not been on leave. This matters for part-time shiftworkers, who may have earned significant penalties on their ordinary roster. Always check the exact wording of your award or agreement rather than assuming a flat rate applies.
How Part-Time Annual Leave Accrues
Under the National Employment Standards (NES), permanent part-time employees accrue 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year, measured against their own ordinary hours (pro-rata). Shiftworkers may get 5 weeks under some awards. Casual employees do not accrue annual leave at all, because casual loading is paid instead of leave entitlements.
For a part-time worker, four weeks does not mean four weeks of 38 hours. It means four weeks at your ordinary weekly hours. A worker employed for 20 hours per week accrues 80 hours of annual leave per year. A worker employed for 30 hours per week accrues 120 hours. The entitlement grows steadily throughout the year as you work, rather than being granted in a single lump sum on your anniversary.
Accrual is calculated as 4 divided by 52, which equals 0.07692 hours of leave per ordinary hour worked. Only ordinary hours count towards accrual, not overtime. If you work extra hours beyond your ordinary hours in a week, those additional hours do not increase your annual leave accrual, although they may attract overtime pay under your award.
How Annual Leave Loading Is Calculated for Part-Time Workers
Where loading applies, it is calculated as a percentage of your base pay for the leave period. Base pay means your ordinary hourly rate multiplied by the number of leave hours taken. It does not include overtime, allowances or other extra payments, unless your award or agreement specifically says otherwise.
The calculation follows three simple steps. First, work out how many hours of leave you are taking. Second, multiply those hours by your ordinary hourly rate to get your base leave pay. Third, multiply the base leave pay by 17.5% to get the loading, and add the two amounts together for your total leave pay.
The table below shows how annual leave hours and loading scale with weekly hours, using a consistent hourly rate of $30 per hour so you can see the pro-rata pattern clearly.
| Ordinary hours per week | Leave hours per year (4 weeks) | Base leave pay at $30/hr | Loading at 17.5% | Total leave pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 hours | 60 hours | $1,800 | $315 | $2,115 |
| 20 hours | 80 hours | $2,400 | $420 | $2,820 |
| 24 hours | 96 hours | $2,880 | $504 | $3,384 |
| 30 hours | 120 hours | $3,600 | $630 | $4,230 |
Worked Examples: Annual Leave Loading for Part-Time Workers
Worked examples make the pro-rata calculation easier to follow. The three examples below all assume loading of 17.5% where applicable, and a full four weeks of leave taken in one year.
| Example | Leave hours per year | Base leave pay | Loading (17.5%) | Total for 4 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 hrs/week at $30/hr | 80 hours | $2,400 | $420 | $2,820 |
| 24 hrs/week at $32/hr | 96 hours | $3,072 | $537.60 | $3,609.60 |
| 30 hrs/week at $35/hr | 120 hours | $4,200 | $735 | $4,935 |
In the first example, a worker on 20 hours per week at $30 per hour accrues 80 hours of leave per year. Base pay for those 80 hours is $2,400, and 17.5% loading adds $420, for a total of $2,820 for four weeks of leave.
In the second example, a worker on 24 hours per week at $32 per hour accrues 96 hours per year. Base pay is $3,072, loading is $537.60, and the total is $3,609.60.
In the third example, a worker on 30 hours per week at $35 per hour accrues 120 hours per year. Base pay is $4,200, loading is $735, and the total is $4,935.
Taking Leave in Hours, Not Weeks
Part-time leave is taken in hours against the employee’s roster. For example, a 24 hour per week worker taking a week off uses 24 hours of leave, not 38. This is one of the most common sources of confusion, because leave is often talked about in weeks, but deducted in hours.
Loading is paid when leave is taken (or paid out on termination), not accrued as a separate balance in most payroll systems. You will not usually see a separate loading balance building up on your payslip. Instead, when you take leave, your payslip for that period should show your base leave pay plus the loading amount, or a combined total that includes it. If your payslip does not clearly show loading, ask your payroll team to break it down so you can confirm it was applied.
What Happens If Your Hours Change?
Many part-time workers change their ordinary hours over time — for example, moving from 20 hours to 30 hours per week, or reducing hours after a change in circumstances. Your leave balance is held in hours, so the hours you have already accrued do not change when your roster changes. What changes is the rate at which you accrue leave in the future, and the value of leave when it is taken.
Leave is generally paid at your current ordinary hourly rate when it is taken, not at the rate that applied when it was accrued. Similarly, the number of hours deducted for a week of leave reflects your current roster, not a historical one. If you increase your hours, a week off will use more leave hours than it did before, but each hour will be paid at your current rate. If you decrease your hours, a week off will use fewer hours.
How to Check Whether You Receive Leave Loading
Start with your modern award. Most awards are published by the Fair Work Commission and can be searched by industry or occupation. Look for the annual leave clause, which will state whether loading applies and at what rate, and whether the greater-of rule for shift and weekend penalties applies.
If you are covered by an enterprise agreement, check it first, as it overrides the award for the matters it covers. If no instrument mentions loading, you are not entitled to it under the NES alone.
Annual Leave on Termination and Superannuation
On termination, accrued annual leave is paid out, and loading is included in the payout if the award or agreement requires it — check the instrument. This is an important detail, because some instruments expressly exclude loading from termination payouts, while others include it. Do not assume either way without checking the wording that applies to you.
Superannuation guarantee (12% in 2025-26) is generally payable on annual leave pay including loading, as it is ordinary time earnings. This applies both when leave is taken during employment and when accrued leave is paid out on termination, subject to the ordinary time earnings rules. If you notice superannuation missing from a leave payout, raise it with your employer, as it may indicate a payroll error.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time workers get annual leave loading?
Yes, part-time workers can receive annual leave loading on the same basis as full-time workers, provided their modern award, enterprise agreement or contract provides for it. The NES itself does not mandate loading, so entitlement depends on the applicable instrument. Where loading applies, it is most commonly 17.5% of base pay for the leave period, calculated on pro-rata hours.
How many hours of annual leave does a part-time worker accrue?
A permanent part-time employee accrues 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year, measured against their own ordinary hours. That is 0.07692 hours of leave per ordinary hour worked. A 20 hour per week worker therefore accrues 80 hours per year, while a 30 hour per week worker accrues 120 hours per year. Only ordinary hours count, not overtime.
Is leave loading paid on every week of leave?
Loading is paid when leave is taken, on the hours actually taken, at the rate set by your award or agreement. It is not usually held as a separate accruing balance. If you take one week off, you receive loading on that week. If you take four weeks, you receive loading on all four weeks, provided loading applies under your instrument.
What happens to my leave if I change from part-time to full-time, or vice versa?
Your existing leave balance stays in hours and does not disappear when your hours change. Future accrual will reflect your new ordinary hours, and leave taken will be deducted according to your current roster. Leave is generally paid at your current hourly rate when taken, so a change in hours or pay rate will affect the dollar value of future leave.
Do casual workers receive annual leave loading?
No. Casual employees do not accrue annual leave, and therefore do not receive annual leave loading. Instead, they receive casual loading in place of leave and certain other permanent entitlements. If you move to permanent part-time work, you begin accruing leave from the start of that employment.
Is superannuation paid on annual leave loading?
Generally, yes. Superannuation guarantee (12% in 2025-26) is generally payable on annual leave pay including loading, as it is ordinary time earnings. This applies when leave is taken and, subject to the ordinary time earnings rules, when accrued leave is paid out on termination.
Conclusion
Annual leave loading for part-time workers follows the same principles as for full-time workers, scaled to your ordinary hours. You accrue four weeks per year on a pro-rata basis, at 0.07692 hours per ordinary hour worked, and where loading applies — most commonly 17.5% — it is paid when you take the leave.
The most important step is to check your own instrument: whether loading applies, whether it is a flat 17.5% or the greater of 17.5% and shift penalties, and whether it is included in a termination payout. Then check your payslips when you take leave.
To estimate your own entitlement, use the annual leave calculator for your pro-rata leave hours, and the salary to hourly calculator to confirm your hourly rate.