Annual leave calculator

This calculator works out how much annual leave you have right now. It finds your current leave cycle, works out how much of the cycle's leave has built up, adds any days carried over from the previous cycle, subtracts the days you have taken, and gives the date by which the leave must be taken. It is for any employee in South Africa who wants to check a payslip balance or plan time off, and for small employers who keep leave records by hand.

The result is a statutory minimum. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, usually called the BCEA, sets the floor. Your contract, a company policy or a bargaining council agreement may give you more, and if it does the better entitlement applies.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

You enter the start date of your current leave cycle, or simply the date you started the job, and the calculator moves forward to the cycle you are in now. You choose a five-day or a six-day week, and how your leave builds up: the usual rule of 21 consecutive days a cycle, or the agreed alternative of one day for every 17 days worked. You then enter the leave already taken this cycle, any days carried over, and the date to work it out on. Leave that date blank for today.

The tool returns your current cycle, your annual entitlement in working days, the leave accrued so far, the balance available now, what would be left if you stayed to the end of the cycle, and the date by which this cycle's leave must be taken.

If your job is ending, use the leave payout calculator instead, because it turns the balance into money at your daily rate.

How the calculation works

The service runs a short, fixed sequence. Here it is in words, in the order the code runs it.

First, it finds the current leave cycle. A cycle is 12 months long and starts on the day you began work. If the date you enter is more than a year before the as-at date, the calculator moves forward in 12-month steps until it reaches the cycle that contains the as-at date.

Second, it sets the entitlement. Under the usual rule, the LawMatch rate table gives a five-day week 15 working days a cycle and a six-day week 18. Under the one-in-17 method, it divides the working days in a year, 260 or 312, by 17, which gives about 15.29 or 18.35 days.

Third, it works out the leave accrued so far. Under the usual rule it multiplies the full entitlement by the calendar days that have passed in the cycle, counting the as-at date, and divides by the days in the cycle. Under the one-in-17 method it divides the days you worked or were paid for by 17, estimating them from your working week if you leave that field blank. Both results are rounded to two decimals.

Fourth, it adds the days carried over and subtracts the days taken. A result below zero shows as zero, with a warning.

Fifth, it works out two deadlines. Leave from the current cycle must be taken within six months after the cycle ends. Leave carried over from the previous cycle had to be taken within six months after that cycle ended, which is six months from the start of the current one. If the as-at date is past that point, the calculator warns that the carried-over leave may have been forfeited.

Payroll systems often accrue a fixed 1.25 days a month on a five-day week. Counting by calendar days gives almost the same answer at each month end, but the two can differ by a fraction of a day.

The law behind the numbers

The rules are in sections 19 to 21 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, with the payout rule in section 40. The rate table names them as its source.

Section 20(2) gives every employee at least 21 consecutive days of annual leave on full pay in each annual leave cycle. Twenty-one consecutive days is three calendar weeks: 15 working days on a five-day week and 18 on a six-day week. By agreement, leave may instead build up at one day for every 17 days on which you worked or were entitled to be paid, or one hour for every 17 hours.

The leave chapter applies to every employee who works 24 hours or more a month for the employer. It is not switched off for people who earn above the BCEA earnings threshold. High earners lose the overtime rules, not their annual leave. The earnings threshold calculator shows where you stand.

Leave is taken by agreement or, failing agreement, when the employer decides (section 20(10)). But section 20(4) obliges the employer to grant the leave no later than six months after the end of the cycle in which it accrued. A public holiday on a working day of your leave adds a day (section 20(8)), and the employer may not pay you instead of granting leave while you are employed (section 20(11)).

The hard part is leave that is not taken in time. The Labour Court has held that statutory annual leave not taken within six months after the end of its cycle is forfeited: in Jooste v Kohler Packaging (2004), in Ludick v Rural Maintenance (Pty) Ltd (2014) 2 BLLR 178 (LC) and again in Hartley v SMD Trading Group CC [2024] ZALCD 16. The position is different where the employer refused leave you asked for, because an employer should not benefit from its own refusal, or where it agreed in writing that you could carry the leave over. These are Labour Court decisions, and no higher court has settled the point. Extra leave that your contract gives you, above the Act's minimum, follows the contract.

On termination, section 40 requires the employer to pay for leave that has accrued and has not been taken, including leave in the current incomplete cycle. Leave that has been forfeited is not paid out. The leave table carries an effective date of 1 January 2019 and changes only when the Act is amended.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Nomsa started work on 1 April 2023 and works a five-day week. She checks her position on 30 September 2026. This cycle she has taken three days, and she has four days left over from the previous cycle.

The calculator moves forward from 1 April 2023 in 12-month steps. Her current cycle runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, which is 365 days.

From 1 April to 30 September 2026 is 183 days. Her accrued leave is 15 days multiplied by 183, divided by 365, which is 7.52 days.

Her balance available now is 7.52 accrued, plus 4 carried over, less 3 taken. That is 8.52 days. If she stays to 31 March 2027, the cycle gives her 15 plus 4 less 3, which is 16 days in total.

Her four carried-over days come from the cycle that ended on 31 March 2026, so they had to be taken by 30 September 2026. That is the as-at date itself, so there is no warning yet. Run the same figures on 1 October 2026 and the calculator warns that those days may have been forfeited, unless her employer refused the leave or agreed in writing to carry it over.

Her leave for the current cycle must be taken by 30 September 2027.

On a six-day week her entitlement would be 18 days and her accrual 18 multiplied by 183, divided by 365, which is 9.02 days. Under an agreed one-in-17 arrangement, 78 days worked so far would give 78 divided by 17, which is 4.59 days.

What the calculator does not include

A better contract is not applied automatically. If your contract gives you 20 days rather than 15, add the difference to the carried-over field or rely on your employer's records.

Public holidays during leave are not counted. Enter only the days that were actually deducted as leave.

Other kinds of leave are separate. Sick leave runs on a three-year cycle and has its own sick leave calculator. Family responsibility leave and parental leave do not come out of annual leave.

The one-hour-for-every-17-hours method is not modelled separately. It gives the same result per hour, so convert your hours into days.

Money is not calculated. For the value of the days on termination, use the leave payout calculator.

The forfeiture warning is a flag, not a ruling. Whether old leave has been lost depends on the facts, especially on whether you asked for it and were refused.

When to get advice

Get advice if any of these apply to you.

Your employer says leave has "expired", and you asked for it in time and were refused, or a written agreement or policy lets you carry it over.

Your employer will not let you take leave at all, or keeps postponing it beyond six months after the cycle ends.

Your payslip balance is far below what you worked out, and the employer will not show you the leave records.

You are asked to accept money instead of leave while you are still employed.

The free route is the Department of Employment and Labour. You can lodge a complaint at your nearest Labour Centre, where an inspector can investigate. Disputes about money owed under the Act can also go to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the CCMA, on 0861 16 16 16, free of charge. If you cannot afford an attorney, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 may be able to help, and our legal aid page explains who qualifies.

For the wider picture, read our guides on how much annual leave you get in South Africa and whether you get paid for unused leave when you leave a job.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the figure with your payslip, your employer's leave records or an attorney before you make decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Does my leave reset in January?

Not under the Act. The leave cycle runs for 12 months from the day you started work. Many employers use the calendar year for convenience, which is lawful as long as nobody ends up with less than the statutory minimum.

Can my employer decide when I take leave?

Yes, if you cannot agree on dates, for example by closing over December. But it must grant the leave within six months after the cycle ends, and cannot make you take it during sick leave or a notice period.

Do I lose leave I do not take?

You may. The Labour Court has held that statutory leave not taken within six months after its cycle ends is forfeited, unless the employer refused it or agreed in writing to carry it over. No higher court has settled this, so keep written leave requests and any refusals.

I earn a high salary. Do I still get annual leave?

Yes. Employees above the BCEA earnings threshold lose the overtime and working-time protections, but the annual leave rules still apply to them in full.