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PTO Accrual Calculator (Per Hour Worked)
PTO accrual per hour worked is annual PTO hours ÷ (weekly hours × 52). 80 hours a year on a 40-hour week is 80 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0385 hours per hour worked, about 1 hour for every 26, or 3.08 hours on an 80-hour biweekly paycheck. Accrual stops while the balance is at the cap.
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Work out PTO accrual for one employee and one paycheck
Filled in with the worked example below: 80 hours a year, paid biweekly, an 84-hour period with 4 hours of overtime. Change any box and the answer updates.
Accrual rate: 0.03846 hours of PTO per hour worked, about 1 hour for every 26.0 worked. This period 80.00 of the 84.00 hours worked earn PTO (overtime excluded).
| Hours | Days | |
|---|---|---|
| Accrued this pay period, after the cap | 3.08 | 0.39 |
| Not earned this period because of the cap | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Same policy as a fixed amount per paycheck (annual ÷ 26) | 3.08 | 0.39 |
| Yearly total at 40 hours a week | 80.00 | 10.00 |
| Balance after this pay period | 101.94 | 12.74 |
| Projected balance after the last payday of 2026 (Dec 25, 2026) | 118.86 | 14.86 |
| Not earned because of the cap, this period to year end | 8.26 | 1.03 |
| Carries into next year (limit 40 h) | 40.00 | 5.00 |
| Forfeited at year end, over the carryover limit | 78.86 | 9.86 |
The projection assumes the same hours in each of the 13 remaining pay periods of 2026 and spreads the 16.00 planned PTO hours evenly across them and this one.
How it’s calculated
Hourly PTO accrual is a rate times the hours worked, held under a ceiling.
rate per hour worked = annual PTO hours ÷ (standard weekly hours × 52)
accrual this period = hours that earn PTO × rate, rounded to your step
(0.01 hour unless you choose otherwise)
balance after the period = max(balance, min(balance + accrual, cap)) − PTO used
That last line is the cap rule exactly as the paid workbook writes it. Accrual fills the balance up to the cap and no further; anything above it is never earned. A balance already over the cap is not cut back; it just stops growing until the employee takes time off.
A ratio converts the same way: 1 hour for every 30 worked is 1 ÷ 30 = 0.03333 per hour. The “fixed amount per paycheck” line is the policy expressed the other way: annual hours ÷ pay periods per year (52, 26, 24 or 12).
For the rest of the year the calculator repeats this period’s hours on every remaining payday, counted from the date you enter (so a 27-payday biweekly year is handled), spreads planned PTO evenly and applies the cap rule each time. At year end the carryover limit decides what rolls over: the smaller of the balance and the limit.
Worked example
A warehouse pays biweekly and gives hourly staff 80 hours of PTO a year, which the handbook says assumes a 40-hour week. The rate is 80 ÷ (40 × 52) = 80 ÷ 2,080 = 0.03846 hours per hour worked, about one hour for every 26.
In the pay period ending Jun 26, 2026, Dana worked 84 hours, 4 of them overtime. The policy does not count overtime, so 80 hours earn PTO: 80 × (80 ÷ 2,080) = 3.0769, which rounds to 3.08 hours, 0.39 of an 8-hour day. That matches the fixed-per-paycheck equivalent, 80 ÷ 26 = 3.08, because 80 hours is exactly a standard biweekly period.
Dana started the period with 100 hours, the cap is 120 and she plans to take 16 hours before the year is out. There are 13 more biweekly paydays in 2026. Netting about 1.94 hours a period, her balance reaches the cap on Oct 30, 2026; after that she earns back only what she uses, and 8.26 hours go unearned by year end. She finishes the year at 118.86 hours.
The carryover limit is 40, so 40.00 hours roll into 2027 and 78.86 hours are forfeited, 9.86 working days. The cap cost her a day; the carryover limit is what cost her nearly two weeks. If Dana took more time off before autumn, both numbers would shrink, which is the conversation worth having with her in the summer rather than in December.
Common questions
How do I calculate PTO accrual per hour worked?
Divide the annual PTO hours by the hours a full-time employee works in a year, usually 2,080 (40 × 52). 80 hours a year is 80 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0385 hours of PTO per hour worked. Multiply that by the hours worked in each pay period.
How much PTO is 1 hour for every 30 hours worked?
A rate of 1 ÷ 30 = 0.0333 per hour worked. A full-timer on 2,080 hours a year accrues about 69.33 hours, 8.67 eight-hour days. Several state and city paid sick leave laws use this ratio (some use 1 for every 40), often with their own caps, so check the rule where your employees work.
How much PTO accrues each biweekly paycheck?
Annual hours ÷ 26: 40 hours a year is 1.54 per paycheck, 80 is 3.08, 120 is 4.62. Under a per-hour-worked policy it moves with the hours actually worked: on an 80-hour-a-year policy, a 70-hour period earns 2.69 hours, not 3.08.
Does PTO accrue on overtime hours?
Only if your policy says so. No federal law requires paid vacation, so a voluntary PTO policy can count straight-time hours only. Paid sick leave laws often count every hour worked, overtime included. Set the overtime box to match your policy.
What happens when an employee hits the PTO cap?
Accrual pauses. Hours above the cap are never added; once the employee takes time off and drops below it, accrual starts again. Nothing already in the balance is taken away. Some states restrict use-it-or-lose-it rules, so check yours.
What is the difference between a cap and a carryover limit?
The cap is a ceiling on the balance at any time and stops accrual. The carryover limit applies once, at year end, and decides how much rolls into next year. A policy can have either, both or neither.
Honest scope
This page works out one employee and one pay period, plus a straight-line look at the rest of the calendar year. It is a planning tool, not payroll or legal advice.
- The year-end figures are a projection: the same hours every remaining payday and planned PTO spread evenly. Real schedules are lumpier, and the cap date moves with them.
- The plan year is the calendar year of the pay period you enter. Policies that reset on hire anniversaries or a fiscal year will differ.
- Not covered: waiting periods for new hires, higher rates after years of service and separation payouts (the paid workbook handles all three), or front-loaded lump-sum policies, which are not accrual at all.
- The paid workbook takes the rate per hour worked directly (its default, 0.0385, is 80 ÷ 2,080); the yearly-allowance and 1-per-X boxes here convert to that rate. It has no overtime switch either: you type the hours that earn PTO.
- Paid sick leave laws set their own ratio, caps and carryover rules, and they override a less generous company policy.
Salaried team on a yearly allowance? → Employee PTO Tracker. Running PTO alongside the rest of a small team’s HR records? → Small Team HR System.
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