Vacation accrual calculator

See how many vacation hours and days you earn each pay period, what your balance will be by a given point, and how much a year-end carryover limit would remove. The example earns 10 days a year with a 40-hour carryover limit.

Vacation after a year

Every two weeks pay · 26 pay periods

3.08 h earned each pay period · 80 h a year

Vacation after a year, line by line
Balance now	0 h
Earned over 26 pay periods 3.08 h × 26 periods	80 h
Lost at year end over the carryover limit	−40 h

Balance at the end

40 h

In days: 5 days
Earned per hour worked: 0.0385 h (1 per 26)

Every pay period

vacation balance by pay period
Period	Earned	Balance
1	3.08	3.08
2	3.08	6.15
3	3.08	9.23
4	3.08	12.31
5	3.08	15.38
6	3.08	18.46
7	3.08	21.54
8	3.08	24.62
9	3.08	27.69
10	3.08	30.77
11	3.08	33.85
12	3.08	36.92
13	3.08	40
14	3.08	43.08
15	3.08	46.15
16	3.08	49.23
17	3.08	52.31
18	3.08	55.38
19	3.08	58.46
20	3.08	61.54
21	3.08	64.62
22	3.08	67.69
23	3.08	70.77
24	3.08	73.85
25	3.08	76.92
26 · year end	3.08	40

Vacation days, hours and pay periods

Vacation is usually promised in days and tracked in hours. Multiply days by your workday length to get hours, then divide by your pay periods a year to get what each paycheck adds.

Vacation hours earned each pay period, at 8 hours a day
Vacation a year	Weekly	Every two weeks	Twice a month	Monthly
5 days (40 h)	0.77 h	1.54 h	1.67 h	3.33 h
10 days (80 h)	1.54 h	3.08 h	3.33 h	6.67 h
15 days (120 h)	2.31 h	4.62 h	5 h	10 h
20 days (160 h)	3.08 h	6.15 h	6.67 h	13.33 h
25 days (200 h)	3.85 h	7.69 h	8.33 h	16.67 h

Carryover and use-it-or-lose-it

A carryover limit caps how much vacation moves into the next year. In the example, 80 hours are earned over the year and the limit is 40, so 40 hours (5 days) disappear at the reset if none are taken. Add planned time off in the calculator and the loss shrinks as you use the time.

States with a use-it-or-lose-it rule

Most states leave this to the employer’s written policy. These states have a rule on it, and the rule applies to earned vacation:

State rules on use-it-or-lose-it vacation policies
State	Use-it-or-lose-it
California	Not allowed
Colorado	Not allowed
Illinois	Allowed with advance notice
Louisiana	Allowed
Massachusetts	Allowed with advance notice
Michigan	Allowed
Montana	Not allowed
New York	Allowed with advance notice
North Carolina	Allowed with advance notice
North Dakota	Allowed with advance notice
Texas	Allowed
Wisconsin	Allowed with advance notice

Questions people ask

How many vacation hours do I earn per pay period?

Divide your yearly vacation hours by your pay periods. Ten days (80 hours) paid every two weeks is 80 ÷ 26 = 3.08 hours a pay period; paid monthly it is 6.67 hours.

How do I convert vacation days to hours?

Multiply the days by the hours in your usual workday. Ten days at 8 hours a day is 80 hours; at 7.5 hours a day it is 75 hours. The calculator shows both, using the workday length you enter.

Does vacation accrue while I am on vacation?

That depends on how your employer accrues it. Per-pay-period and yearly plans usually keep accruing during paid leave; plans that accrue per hour worked only count hours actually worked.

Can my employer take away vacation I have earned?

In some states, no. California, Colorado and Montana treat earned vacation as wages and do not allow use-it-or-lose-it policies. Elsewhere, a written policy usually decides, sometimes only with advance notice. The PTO payout laws page lists each state.

Sources

Each source was read on September 25, 2026.

Limits and plans