Leave Payout on Termination
When your employment ends, your unused leave has a dollar value — but it is not your whole final pay. This guide covers the leave part only: annual leave, long service leave, the tax estimate, and why personal leave pays $0.
Rules and tax figures checked October 2026 (FY2026-27).
Leave only, not your whole final pay
A leave payout is the value of your accrued but untaken leave: unused annual leave plus unused long service leave, less the estimated tax. It does not include unpaid wages, pay in lieu of notice, or redundancy pay. For those, use the Final Pay Calculator or read the Final Pay Guide. To work out your own leave payout with the same rules as this guide, use the Leave Payout Calculator.
Annual leave payout
Accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out when employment ends, at your base rate for the ordinary hours of the leave. Overtime, penalty rates, allowances and bonuses are not part of the base rate unless your award or agreement builds them in.
Leave loading — usually 17.5% — is paid on the payout only if your award, agreement or contract would have paid it when you took the leave. Most awards pay it. Loading applies to annual leave only, never to long service leave or personal leave.
The calculator takes annual leave in weeks. If your balance is in hours, divide by your ordinary weekly hours. For example, 152 hours at 38 hours a week is 4 weeks.
Long service leave by state
Long service leave is set by state law, so the same years of service are worth different amounts in different states. The table below is the complete rule set used by this site's calculators.
| State | Weeks accrued | Full mark | Pro-rata mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | years × 26/30 | 10 years | 5 years |
| Queensland | years × 26/30 | 10 years | 7 years |
| Western Australia | years × 26/30 | 10 years | 7 years |
| South Australia | floor(years) × 1.3 — completed years only | 10 years | 7 years |
| Victoria | (years × 52) / 60 | 7 years | 7 years |
| Australian Capital Territory | years × 13/15 | 7 years | 5 years |
At or above the full mark, long service leave is payable whatever the reason employment ended. Between the pro-rata mark and the full mark, it is payable only for a qualifying reason that depends on the state — for example, illness or incapacity resignation, redundancy, or employer termination other than for serious misconduct. Below the pro-rata mark, it pays $0.
Two rules catch people out. In the Australian Capital Territory, an ordinary resignation between 5 and 7 years pays $0 — only special circumstances qualify in that window (illness or incapacity, domestic or pressing necessity, minimum-retiring-age resignation, death, or employer termination other than for serious or wilful misconduct). And in every state, dismissal for serious or wilful misconduct pays $0 in the pro-rata window.
South Australia caveat: a resignation in the 7–10 year window only qualifies if you gave the required notice. Resigning without the required notice removes the entitlement in that window.
The amount is net weeks × ordinary weekly pay, where net weeks are weeks accrued less weeks already taken (floored at zero). Work out your own state figure with the state pages: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory.
Tasmania is not covered here because its transitional cohort question is unresolved. The Northern Territory is not covered here because its engine uses fractional accrual where completed years are correct. No Tasmanian or Northern Territory figures are given in this guide.
Personal leave: $0 on termination
Unused personal/carer's leave is not paid out on termination, unless your award, agreement or contract provides otherwise. This surprises people with large sick leave balances, but the balance is for time off while employed, not a cash entitlement at exit. The breakdown in the Leave Payout Calculator shows it as an explicit $0 line so you can see it was considered, not forgotten. For the value of the balance if taken as leave, use the Personal Leave Calculator. Sick and carer's leave are one combined pool — see the Fair Work Ombudsman's paid sick and carer's leave page.
Tax: ATO Schedule 7, FY2026-27
Unused leave payments on termination are not employment termination payments (ETPs). They are taxed as unused leave payments, and no superannuation is payable on them.
Leave accrued after 17 August 1993 (the default case) is taxed at marginal rates by stacking: the payout is added to your baseline income — your gross income from this job so far this financial year — and the tax is the extra tax the payout causes. The FY2026-27 resident brackets are 0–$18,200 nil, $18,201–$45,000 at 15%, $45,001–$135,000 at 30%, $135,001–$190,000 at 37%, and $190,001 and over at 45%, plus 2% Medicare. Low-income tax offsets, HELP debts, the Medicare levy surcharge and deductions are excluded from the estimate; any difference is settled when you lodge your tax return.
Genuine redundancy changes the post-1993 result: the tax on post-1993 leave is capped at 32% of post-1993 leave gross — you pay the smaller of the stacked marginal figure and the cap. The same 32% cap applies for invalidity and approved early retirement schemes. The cap covers leave lump sums only.
Pre-1993 bands are rare, because oldest leave is used first, so most people have $0 here. If you do have them: annual leave accrued before 18 August 1993 is taxed at a flat 32% regardless of reason; long service leave accrued from 16 August 1978 to 17 August 1993 is taxed at a flat 32% regardless of reason; long service leave accrued before 16 August 1978 has only 5% of its amount taxed, at marginal rates.
Death: gross leave is still calculated, but no tax figure is shown. Tax is not estimated for death benefits — confirm with the ATO or the estate's adviser.
Source: ATO Schedule 7 — Tax table for unused leave payments on termination of employment; Fair Work Ombudsman annual leave and sick and carer's leave guidance.
Worked examples
All figures below are the calculator's verified test cases, at full precision and displayed to cents.
Example 1 — New South Wales, 10 years, resigned, $1,520 a week
Four weeks of annual leave with loading is $7,144.00. Long service leave is 8.6667 weeks, or $13,173.33. Gross is $20,317.33, estimated tax $6,501.55 and net $13,815.79.
Example 2 — New South Wales, 10 years, genuine redundancy, $3,000 a week
Four weeks of annual leave with loading is $14,100.00 and long service leave is $26,000.00, so gross is $40,100.00. The stacked marginal tax is $16,127.00, but the 32% redundancy cap holds it to $12,832.00. Net is $27,268.00.
Example 3 — Australian Capital Territory, 6 years, ordinary resignation, $1,520 a week
Two weeks of annual leave with loading is $3,572.00. Long service leave is $0 because an ordinary resignation between 5 and 7 years in the Australian Capital Territory does not qualify. Gross is $3,572.00, tax $1,143.04 and net $2,428.96.
Example 4 — New South Wales, 3 years, resigned, $1,520 a week, no loading, 1 week from before 18 August 1993
Four weeks of annual leave is $6,080.00 and long service leave is $0. Tax is $1,459.20 on the post-1993 weeks plus a flat $486.40 on the pre-1993 week, $1,945.60 in total. Net is $4,134.40. Pre-1993 splits are rare — most people enter 0.
Frequently asked questions
What is paid out when I leave?
Accrued but untaken annual leave and long service leave are paid out, if your state's rules are met. Unused personal/carer's leave is not paid out unless your award, agreement or contract provides otherwise. Unpaid wages, notice and redundancy pay are separate payments and are not part of a leave payout.
Is leave loading paid on the payout?
Yes, if your award, agreement or contract would have paid it when you took the leave. Most awards pay 17.5% on annual leave. Loading applies to annual leave only, never to long service leave or personal leave.
How is long service leave worked out for my state?
New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia accrue 26/30 of a week per year of service, the Australian Capital Territory 13/15, South Australia 1.3 weeks per completed year, and Victoria 52/60 of a week per year. Full payout applies from 10 years in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, and from 7 years in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Between the pro-rata mark and the full mark it is paid only for a qualifying reason that depends on the state.
What if I am dismissed for misconduct?
Dismissal for serious or wilful misconduct pays no long service leave in the pro-rata window in any state, but unused annual leave is still paid out. Once you reach the full long service leave mark (10 years in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia; 7 years in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory) it is payable whatever the reason.
Why is personal leave $0?
Personal/carer's leave is there for when you are sick or caring, and it is not an accrued entitlement paid out on termination. Unused personal/carer's leave is not paid out on termination, unless your award, agreement or contract provides otherwise.
How is the tax estimated?
The estimate follows ATO Schedule 7. Post-1993 annual leave and long service leave are stacked on top of your baseline income and taxed at FY2026-27 resident rates plus 2% Medicare, using the extra tax the payout causes. Pre-1993 annual leave and 1978–1993 long service leave are taxed at a flat 32%, and only 5% of pre-1978 long service leave is stacked. Low-income tax offsets, HELP debts, the Medicare levy surcharge and deductions are excluded and settled at your tax return.
Why is redundancy taxed at most 32% on leave?
For a genuine redundancy, tax on the post-1993 leave is the lower of the stacked marginal amount and 32% of that leave. The cap covers leave lump sums only and does not apply to other reasons for leaving.
What about leave from before 1993?
Annual leave accrued before 18 August 1993, long service leave accrued from 16 August 1978 to 17 August 1993, and long service leave accrued before 16 August 1978 are taxed differently. These splits are rare, because oldest leave is used first, so the calculator's advanced fields default to 0. Leave them at 0 unless you know you have pre-1993 leave.
Is super paid on my leave payout?
No. No superannuation is payable on leave payouts on termination.
What if my employment ends by death?
Gross leave is still calculated, but no tax figure is shown. Tax is not estimated for death benefits — confirm with the ATO or the estate's adviser.
Related tools
- Leave Payout Calculator — annual leave plus long service leave only, with the Schedule 7 tax estimate.
- Final Pay Calculator — your whole final pay: wages, notice, leave and redundancy.
- ETP Tax Calculator — tax on employment termination payments, separate from leave payouts.
- Annual Leave Calculator — accrued annual leave in hours and dollars.
- Personal Leave Calculator — sick and carer's leave from one combined pool.
Related guides
- Final Pay Guide — everything you are owed when you leave.
- Redundancy Tax-Free Limit — the genuine redundancy limit and what sits above it.
- All guides
LeavePayout gives estimates only. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your entitlement with your employer, your award or agreement, or the ATO.