PTO and sick leave · rules read October 11, 2026
PTO calculator: balance, trip and value
Enter your balance, what each paycheck adds and the dates of your time off; the calculator shows what is left and what it is worth.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Balance on the day you leave
95.44 h
11.9 eight-hour days · 79.44 h left after the trip
| Earned before the trip | 55.44 h |
| Yearly accrual at this rate | 120.1 h |
| Enough for the plan? | yes |
| Cash value of the balance | $2,386.00 |
No federal law requires paid vacation; the accrual rate, any cap and payout at the end of a job come from your employer’s written policy and your state. How this is calculated.
A PTO balance answers two questions: will it cover the time off you are planning, and what is it worth in pay. For the first, project the balance forward to the day you leave, then subtract only the workdays you will miss. Someone with 40 hours banked in mid-October who earns 4.62 hours every biweekly paycheck (15 days a year) receives 5 more checks before December 21, so the balance reaches 63.08 hours. Two weeks away from December 21, 2026 to January 1, 2027 cover 12 calendar days but only 8 workdays, because Christmas and New Year's Day are federal holidays most employers pay anyway, and that trip uses 64 hours, leaving -0.92. For the second, multiply hours by your hourly rate: 72 hours at $28 are worth $2,016 of pay. Federal wage law has no paid vacation requirement, so the rules that decide accrual, caps, carryover and payout come from your employer's policy and, in some states, state law.
Enough PTO for the trip?
Hours short
0.90
| Balance on departure | 63.10 h |
| Hours the trip uses (8 a day) | 64.00 h |
Weekends and paid holidays inside the trip do not use PTO.
Projecting the balance to the day you leave
The balance printed on today's pay stub is not the one you will have on departure day. Every paycheck between now and then adds hours, so the useful number is the projection. With 15 days a year, which is 120 hours at 8 hours a day, a biweekly employee gains 4.62 hours a check. In 2026 a Friday biweekly schedule pays on October 23, 2026, November 6, 2026, November 20, 2026, December 4, 2026 and December 18, 2026 before December 21, which is 5 checks and 23.08 more hours. A balance of 40 hours in mid-October therefore becomes 63.08 hours by the time the trip starts.
Two refinements matter. Some policies credit the hours on the paycheck date, others at the end of the pay period, which can shift a trip planned right after payday by one check. And hours used for a sick day or a long weekend before the trip come off the projection, so add them to the hours you plan to take in the calculator above.
A trip uses workdays, not calendar days
People often overestimate what a vacation costs in PTO. Weekends do not use any, and neither do paid holidays. The two weeks from December 21, 2026 to January 1, 2027 span 12 calendar days: 2 are weekend days, 2 are federal holidays on the OPM calendar (Christmas on a Friday and New Year's Day on the following Friday), and only 8 are workdays. At 8 hours a day the trip takes 64 hours, not 80. Private employers choose their own holidays, so check the company calendar; the 2026 federal holiday list is a good starting point, and the business days calculator counts the workdays between any two dates.
| Time off | Calendar days | Workdays used | PTO hours at 8 a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 2026 to Jan 1, 2027 | 12 | 8 | 64 |
| Thanksgiving week, Nov 23 to 27 | 5 | 4 | 32 |
| A plain week in March, Mon to Fri | 5 | 5 | 40 |
What the balance is worth
PTO is pay you have already earned in time rather than money, so its value is hours times the rate you will be paid when you use it. 72 hours at $28 are $2,016. If you get a raise before taking the time, the same hours are worth more, which is one reason some people hold a balance until after a review. A cap works against that: once the balance hits it, new hours stop accruing, and they are lost rather than banked.
Federal wage law sets no paid vacation requirement, and Fact Sheet #23 confirms that work on a holiday or a weekend carries no federal premium as such. The result is that payout of unused time at separation depends on the policy and the state. California's separate paid sick leave, explained on the California sick leave page and in the Labor Commissioner guidance, is a statutory minimum rather than a vacation plan. To see how a yearly allowance turns into hours per paycheck, use the PTO accrual calculator.