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Annual leave loading
calculator (Australia)

Work out what the 17.5% leave loading adds to an employee's annual leave pay, where an award or agreement provides it.

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17.5% is the most common rate where an award provides it
Leave loading
 
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What is annual leave loading?

It is an extra payment on top of an employee's normal pay when they take annual leave, most commonly 17.5%. It exists where an award, enterprise agreement or contract provides for it.

How we calculated this

We take the annual base salary and divide it by 52 for a weekly wage, multiply by the weeks of annual leave for the base leave pay, then apply the loading percentage to that figure. The result is the loading on its own, and we show it added to the leave pay for the total. The default is 17.5%, the most common rate where an award or agreement provides leave loading, but it is not universal and some instruments do not provide it at all. The working, the assumptions and the sources are below.

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of leave loading in the HR Glossary.

Your working
Assumptions
  • Leave loading only exists where the award, enterprise agreement or contract provides it. The calculator assumes it does. If the instrument is silent, the answer is zero.
  • 17.5% is the common rate, applied to base pay for the leave taken. Shiftworkers under many awards get the greater of the loading or the shift and weekend penalties they would have earned; the calculator does not model that comparison.
  • Weekly pay is salary divided by 52. Some awards and payroll systems use 52.18 to account for the extra day, a small difference that grows across a large workforce.
  • The loading is shown for leave taken. In most cases it is also payable on unused annual leave when employment ends, so the liability sits in every leave balance and not only in the leave people take.
Sources

What to do about it

The loading is a small line. The leave balance it rides on is not. These steps are for whoever runs payroll or reports the leave liability, whether or not they set leave policy.

1

Confirm the entitlement in the instrument, per role

Find the leave loading clause in each award or agreement that covers your people, note the rate and any shiftworker rule, and record which document you relied on. Where a contract promises loading to award-free staff, it applies too. Where nothing provides it, do not pay it by habit.

2

Get the payroll treatment right

Loading is ordinary time earnings for super in most cases, so super is owed on it; the exception is loading that is demonstrably compensation for lost overtime, and the ATO expects evidence for that. It is taxed as ordinary income. Check both settings in payroll once a year.

3

Budget it inside the leave liability, including termination

Loading is payable on unused leave in most cases when someone leaves, so every accrued week carries it. Add it to the leave provision, and stop treating it as a cost that only appears when people take holidays.

4
Where a tool helps

Read the balances as a signal

Large and growing leave balances mean people are not taking leave. That is a wellbeing signal and a workload signal before it is a finance one, and it costs more each year as salaries rise. Report the balances by team, and ask the managers with the biggest ones what is stopping their people from going.

The loading is small.
Untaken leave is not.

Compono Engage is an employee engagement platform that reads culture and climate alongside work personality, so you can see which teams are under strain and why, while the people are still on the payroll. Payroll shows the leave balance. It cannot tell you whether the balance is growing because the team is thriving and busy, or because nobody feels able to go.

Step 4 asks you to read the balances as a signal. Engage reads the team behind the balance: the strain in the work and the support people feel from their manager. The loading above is a payroll fact. The leave nobody takes is a people question, and this is where you get the answer.

See how it works
Compono Engage
8%+
reduction in turnover

Common questions

Is leave loading always 17.5%?

17.5% is the most common rate, but the amount and whether it applies at all depend on the relevant award or agreement. Some do not provide leave loading. Always check the document that covers the role.

Do all employees get leave loading?

No. It only applies where an award, enterprise agreement or contract includes it. Award-free employees on a common-law contract may not receive it unless the contract says so.

Is leave loading taxed?

Leave loading is generally treated as ordinary income for tax. Payroll treatment can vary, so confirm with your payroll provider. This is general guidance, not legal or payroll advice.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the Fair Work Ombudsman or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

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