Sick Leave Accrual Calculator
Estimate paid sick leave earned from your hours worked and accrual rate, including how statutory caps and carryover limits change your balance.
Sick Leave Accrual Calculator
Accrual Method
Total Hours Worked
Use hours actually worked, not hours paid. Holidays and vacation do not count.
Accrual Rate
Current Sick Leave Balance
Hours already banked at the start of this period.
Annual Sick Leave Grant
Lump sum granted at the start of the benefit year.
Sick Hours Already Used
Max Accrual Cap
California caps total accrual at 80 hours (10 days). Pick "No cap" for an uncapped plan.
Annual Usage Cap
Informational: max hours usable per year (California: 40). Set 0 for no limit.
Carryover Cap
Max hours that roll into next year (California: 40). Set 0 for no carryover.
Estimates only, not tax or legal advice. Paid sick leave laws vary widely by state and city, and employer policies can be more generous than the legal minimum. Confirm the rules that apply to you with your state labor agency or a qualified professional.
Track Every Hour You Work
Accrual follows the hours you actually work, so the count has to be right. Timeclock44 logs your shifts, so your sick leave balance lines up with the hours you put in.
How Sick Leave Accrual Works
Under the accrual method, you earn paid sick leave gradually as you work. The math comes down to one division: hours worked divided by your accrual ratio. The most common statutory rate is 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, which is the rate used in California, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon. Some plans use 1 hour per 40 instead.
So if you worked 520 hours at 1 hour per 30, you earned 520 / 30 = 17.33 hours of sick leave. Add any hours you already had banked, subtract the hours you have used, and that is your current balance. Watch one detail: accrual is based on hours actually worked, not hours paid. Holidays, vacation, and sick time itself do not count as hours worked under the FLSA, so enter only your real worked hours.
Accrual Caps, Usage Caps, and Carryover
Three separate limits shape your balance, and they are easy to mix up.
- Accrual cap: the most you can hold at one time. California caps total accrual at 80 hours (10 days). Once you hit the cap, accrual pauses until you use some hours, then it resumes.
- Usage cap: the most you can use in a single year (California: 40 hours, or 5 days), even when your balance is higher. It does not shrink your banked balance, so this tool treats it as informational.
- Carryover cap: the most that rolls into the next benefit year. California requires at least 40 hours to carry over under the accrual method.
These numbers vary by state and city, and many employers offer more than the legal minimum. The 40 / 80 / 40 figures above are the California baseline, not a national rule.
Accrual vs. Front-Loading
Employers can meet sick leave laws in two ways. The accrual method earns time gradually, as described above, and generally requires carryover of unused hours. Front-loading hands you the full annual allotment (commonly 40 hours) on day one of the benefit year. Front-loaded plans are easier to administer and usually skip carryover, because the full amount is re-granted each year.
Switch this tool to Front-load mode to model a lump-sum grant: it ignores hours worked and the accrual rate, then subtracts any hours you have used to show what is left.
Sick Leave Rules Vary by State
There is no single federal paid sick leave law for private employers, so your rights come down to your state and often your city. Accrual rates, caps, carryover, waiting periods, and which employers are covered all differ from place to place. Treat this calculator as an estimate, then confirm the specifics with your state labor agency. Our Minimum Wage by State Lookup is a good place to start when you are tracking down your state rules, and the Final Paycheck Calculator covers what happens to unused balances when you leave a job. To keep your worked-hours count accurate all year, log your hours with Timeclock44.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about sick leave accrual calculator
How is sick leave accrual calculated?
Divide the hours you worked by your accrual ratio. The most common statutory rate is 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, so 520 hours worked earns 520 / 30 = 17.33 hours of sick leave. This tool runs that math, then applies whatever accrual cap, usage cap, and carryover limit you enter.
What does "1 hour for every 30 hours worked" mean in real terms?
You bank 1 hour of paid sick time for each 30 hours on the clock. Someone working a full 40-hour week earns about 1.33 hours of sick leave a week, or roughly 69 hours over a year. Part-time workers earn less, because accrual follows the hours you actually work.
What is the difference between the accrual method and front-loading?
With the accrual method you earn sick leave gradually as you work, usually at 1 hour per 30 hours. With front-loading your employer gives you the full annual allotment (often 40 hours) on day one of the benefit year. Front-loaded plans are simpler and usually skip carryover, while accrual plans have to let unused hours roll over up to a limit.
Is there a cap on how much sick leave I can accrue?
Often, yes. California caps total accrual at 80 hours (10 days) under SB 616, and plenty of employer policies set caps of 40, 48, or 72 hours. Once your balance hits the cap, accrual pauses until you use some hours, then it picks back up. Set the cap field to 0 here to model a plan with no cap.
Can I carry over unused sick leave to next year?
Under the accrual method, most state laws require it. California makes employers carry over at least 40 hours into the next benefit year. Front-loading employers usually do not have to allow carryover, since they re-grant the full amount each year anyway. Check the state rules for your location to confirm.
What is the difference between an accrual cap and a usage cap?
An accrual cap limits the total balance you can hold at once (California: 80 hours). A usage cap limits how many hours you can actually use in a year (California: 40 hours), even when your balance is higher. The usage cap does not touch your banked balance, it just limits how much you can draw down per year, so this tool treats it as informational.
Do paid holidays and vacation count toward sick leave accrual?
No. Accrual is based on hours actually worked, not hours paid. Under the FLSA, paid time off like holidays, vacation, and sick days does not count as hours worked, so enter only the hours you were on the job. Our Timecard Calculator can total those worked hours for you.
How many days of sick leave is 40 or 80 hours?
At a standard 8-hour day, 40 hours is 5 days and 80 hours is 10 days. That is why California describes its caps as 40 hours or 5 days and 80 hours or 10 days. If your workday is a different length, divide your hours by your shift length instead of 8.