Work hours & pay
Unpaid leave calculator
Enter your salary, how many unpaid days you are taking and the working days in the month to see the deduction and the pay you keep.
Working days in a month average about 21.7 (260 a year ÷ 12). Use the actual working days in the month for an exact deduction.
How the deduction is worked out
Most employers dock unpaid leave with a daily rate built from the month it falls in: daily rate = monthly salary ÷ working days in that month, and the deduction is the daily rate × unpaid days. The pay you keep is the monthly salary minus that deduction. If you enter an annual figure, it is divided by twelve first.
Say you earn $4,000 a month and take 3 unpaid days in a month with 22 working days. The daily rate is 4,000 ÷ 22 = $181.82, the deduction is 181.82 × 3 = $545.45, and you take home 4,000 − 545.45 = $3,454.55 before tax. Because the divisor is the working days in that specific month, the same day off costs a little more in a short month than in a long one.
| Monthly salary | Working days | One unpaid day | Five unpaid days |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | 21 | $142.86 | $714.29 |
| $4,000 | 22 | $181.82 | $909.09 |
| $5,000 | 20 | $250.00 | $1,250.00 |
Which day-count to use
There is no single legal divisor in most places, so employers pick a method and apply it consistently. Two are common: the working days in the actual month, which is what this calculator uses and which makes each day's cost vary month to month, and a fixed figure of 21.7 days (260 working days a year divided by twelve) that charges the same for every unpaid day all year. Salaried staff on the fixed method sometimes find a single day off in a five-day week is docked as 1/21.7 rather than 1/20, so it is worth checking your contract. This estimate is gross: your actual payslip change is smaller once tax and other deductions, which usually fall with lower pay, are recalculated. It does not cover statutory or protected leave, which may be paid or calculated differently.
Frequently asked questions
How is pay for one unpaid day calculated?
Divide your monthly salary by the number of working days in that month to get a daily rate, then subtract it once. On $4,000 across 22 working days, one day is $181.82.
Does a short month cost more per unpaid day?
Yes, when the divisor is the working days in that month. February with 20 working days splits the same salary across fewer days, so each unpaid day is worth slightly more than in a 23-day month.
Is the deduction taken before or after tax?
Before. Pay is reduced first, then tax and other deductions are recalculated on the lower gross, so the real drop in take-home is smaller than the gross deduction shown here.