Work hours & pay
PTO accrual calculator
Enter your yearly PTO, the length of a workday and how often you are paid; see the hours added each paycheck and per hour worked.
Balances assume no PTO is used and no cap applies; check your policy for carry-over limits.
How PTO accrual is calculated
Start by converting the yearly allowance to hours: days × hours per workday. Then divide by the number of pay periods in a year: 52 for weekly, 26 for biweekly, 24 for semimonthly and 12 for monthly. For an hourly accrual rate, divide the yearly hours by the hours worked in a year, which is hours per week × 52.
Example: 15 days of PTO with 8-hour days is 120 hours a year. Paid biweekly, you accrue 120 ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours per paycheck. A full-time year of 40 × 52 = 2,080 hours gives 120 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0577 hours of PTO per hour worked, or one hour of PTO for every 17.3 hours on the job. After six months the balance is 60 hours, or 7.5 days.
| Pay frequency | Periods per year | 10 days (80 h) | 15 days (120 h) | 20 days (160 h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | 1.54 h | 2.31 h | 3.08 h |
| Biweekly | 26 | 3.08 h | 4.62 h | 6.15 h |
| Semimonthly | 24 | 3.33 h | 5.00 h | 6.67 h |
| Monthly | 12 | 6.67 h | 10.00 h | 13.33 h |
| Per hour worked | 2,080 h | 0.0385 h | 0.0577 h | 0.0769 h |
Reading your payslip and policy
Biweekly and semimonthly look similar but are not the same: 26 pay dates against 24, so a biweekly accrual per paycheck is smaller even though the yearly total is identical. If your payslip shows a different number, the policy may accrue per hour worked instead, in which case overtime and unpaid leave change the total, or it may round each accrual to two decimals.
Part-time staff usually accrue per hour worked. Someone on 24 hours a week under the same 0.0577 rate earns 24 × 52 × 0.0577 = 72 hours a year, which is the full-time allowance prorated to 60%. Enter 24 in the hours worked field and the PTO in hours to model that.
Check three policy details the formula cannot see: a waiting period before new hires can accrue or use PTO, a cap on the balance after which accrual stops, and carry-over or payout rules at year end. In the United States the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require paid vacation, so these rules come from the employer and state law, while the EU Working Time Directive sets a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate PTO accrual per pay period?
Convert yearly PTO to hours and divide by your number of pay periods. 120 hours a year paid biweekly is 120 ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours per paycheck; paid semimonthly it is 5 hours.
How much PTO do I earn per hour worked?
Divide yearly PTO hours by yearly hours worked. 80 hours of PTO over a 2,080-hour year is about 0.0385 hours per hour worked, roughly one hour of PTO for every 26 hours.
What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly accrual?
Biweekly means every two weeks, 26 times a year; semimonthly means twice a month, 24 times a year. The yearly total is the same, but each semimonthly accrual is slightly larger.