PTO Payout Calculator
Estimate a gross unused-PTO payout from an hourly rate or annual salary, an employer-policy payout percentage, and an optional combined deduction estimate.
Estimated gross PTO payout
$2,016.00
72 hours paid at $28.00/hour
- Balance in hours
- 72 hours
- Equivalent days
- 9
- Estimated take-home
- $2,016.00
Payout calculation
- Normalized PTO balance
- 72 hours
- Payable balance (100%)
- 72 hours
- Balance excluded by entered policy
- 0 hours
- Effective hourly rate
- $28.00/hour
- Estimated gross payout
- $2,016.00
Optional deduction estimate
- Combined deductions (0%)
- $0.00
- Estimated take-home
- $2,016.00
Official U.S. sources
Scope and tax treatment reviewed 2026-08-13. Federal law does not generally require vacation pay; the applicable agreement and state law determine whether a balance is payable.
What this calculator assumes
- The payable percentage is a user-confirmed policy input, not a statement that any balance is legally owed.
- Annual salary is converted using weekly hours times workweeks per year; bonuses, commissions, raises, and alternative final-rate rules are excluded.
- The deduction field is an optional planning estimate and defaults to 0%. It is not a tax calculation or withholding instruction.
- Jurisdiction, employer policy, collective-bargaining terms, leave type, forfeiture rules, final-pay timing, and tax liability are outside this calculator.
Formulas, assumptions, and rounding are documented in our calculator methodology.
Built and maintained by Will Henschell, Data Scientist. Editorial policy.
The PTO Payout Formula
Normalized hours equal unused days times hours per day, or the unused-hours balance entered directly. Payable hours equal normalized hours times the user-confirmed policy percentage. Gross payout equals payable hours times the applicable hourly rate. The optional take-home estimate subtracts the combined deduction percentage entered by the user.
Why the Payable Percentage Is an Input
There is no single federal rule requiring every unused vacation balance to be paid. The U.S. Department of Labor describes vacation benefits as matters of agreement, and state rules vary. An employer policy, offer letter, contract, collective-bargaining agreement, leave plan, and the reason employment ends can matter. Enter 100% only after confirming that the entire displayed balance is payable.
Hourly Rate vs. Annual Salary
Hourly employees can enter the rate applicable to the payout. Salary employees can create a planning rate from annual salary, weekly hours, and workweeks per year. That conversion is transparent but not authoritative: some policies or state rules use a current, final, regular, average, or differently defined rate of pay.
Withholding Is Not Final Tax Liability
A payroll withholding percentage is an amount sent toward taxes and other deductions, not necessarily the employee's final tax rate. IRS Publication 15 explains aggregate and supplemental-wage withholding methods for employers. The actual check can also reflect payroll taxes, state or local withholding, benefits, garnishments, and payroll timing. Use the optional combined percentage only for cash planning and compare the result with payroll documentation.
Official Source Review - August 13, 2026
The scope was reviewed against the current U.S. Department of Labor vacation-leave guidance, its state labor-office directory, and IRS Publication 15 for 2026. California's current labor guidance was also reviewed as an example of why a national entitlement engine would be misleading. The tool calculates only from policy and rate inputs the user confirms.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Convert the confirmed balance to hours, multiply by the percentage payable under the applicable policy, then multiply payable hours by the applicable hourly rate. For salary planning, this calculator derives an hourly rate by dividing annual salary by scheduled weekly hours times paid workweeks per year. An agreement or state rule may require a different rate.
- The U.S. Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, including vacations. Vacation benefits are generally matters of agreement between an employer and employee or representative. State law can impose additional rules, so the calculator requires you to supply the payable percentage instead of assuming one national rule.
- For a planning estimate, divide annual salary by scheduled weekly hours multiplied by paid workweeks per year. For example, $72,800 divided by 40 hours and 52 weeks equals $35 per hour. The final-pay rule, policy, or agreement may use a different regular or final rate.
- No universal 22% take-home rule applies. IRS Publication 15 treats certain unused-vacation lump sums as supplemental wages and describes multiple withholding methods depending on how and when they are paid. Social Security, Medicare, state, local, benefits, and other deductions can also apply. That is why the optional combined deduction input defaults to 0% rather than embedding one tax rate.
- Yes. Select days and enter the hours in one workday. The calculator multiplies days by hours per day before applying the payable percentage and hourly rate. Confirm how the employer defines a PTO day, especially for alternative or variable schedules.