Final Pay Calculator Australia
Work out your last pay when leaving a job in 2026-27: unused annual leave, 17.5% leave loading, payment in lieu of notice, and the tax on each part.
Final Pay Calculator 2026-27
What must your final pay include?
Two components are always owed. Three more depend on how the job ended.
Your final pay always includes wages for every hour worked up to your last day, with penalty rates and allowances, plus every hour of unused annual leave, including leave loading where you received it during employment. Depending on how the job ended, it can also include payment in lieu of notice, redundancy pay and long service leave. Unused sick and carer’s leave is never paid out.
| Component | When it is owed | Rate that applies |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding wages | Always | Actual earnings, including penalties and allowances |
| Unused annual leave | Always | Base rate for ordinary hours |
| Annual leave loading (17.5%) | If you received loading during employment | On the leave payout, even if the award says otherwise |
| Payment in lieu of notice | If the employer ends the job without full notice | Full rate, including loadings and penalties |
| Redundancy pay | Genuine redundancy, subject to NES rules | Base rate for ordinary hours |
| Long service leave | Accrued or pro-rata under state or territory law | Varies by jurisdiction |
| Unused sick and carer’s leave | Never paid out | Not applicable |
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Final pay, content last updated 15 May 2026. Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 ss90(2), 117, 323.
How is your final pay calculated?
A worked example on a $90,000 salary and a 38-hour week, 2026-27.
Take a $90,000 salary, 76 hours of unused leave, an award with 17.5% loading, and an employer paying 3 weeks in lieu of notice. Weekly base pay is $1,730.77 and the hourly base rate is $45.55.
1. Unused leave: 76 hours at $45.55 is $3,462.
2. Leave loading: 17.5% of that leave value adds $606.
3. In lieu of notice: 3 weeks at $1,730.77 is $5,192, and this component should use your full rate, so it grows if you regularly earn penalties or allowances.
4. Total termination components: $9,260, on top of wages for the final hours worked.
The calculator above runs the same steps on your numbers. For what a leave balance alone is worth, or the accrual rules behind the balance on your payslip, see the leave calculator. If your job ended in a genuine redundancy, the redundancy pay calculator adds the NES redundancy weeks and the 2026-27 tax-free amount.
What does final pay look like at common salaries?
Two weeks (76 hours) of unused leave with 17.5% loading, plus 2 weeks in lieu of notice, 2026-27.
| Salary | Weekly base pay | 76 hours leave + loading | 2 weeks in lieu | Termination components |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $1,153.85 | $2,712 | $2,308 | $5,019 |
| $70,000 | $1,346.15 | $3,163 | $2,692 | $5,856 |
| $80,000 | $1,538.46 | $3,615 | $3,077 | $6,692 |
| $90,000 | $1,730.77 | $4,067 | $3,462 | $7,529 |
| $100,000 | $1,923.08 | $4,519 | $3,846 | $8,365 |
| $120,000 | $2,307.69 | $5,423 | $4,615 | $10,038 |
Gross amounts before withholding, computed at salary divided by 52 and a 38-hour week. In lieu of notice is shown at base salary and is owed at the full rate, so these are floors. Sources: Fair Work Act 2009 ss90(2), 117; Fair Work Ombudsman, Final pay.
Base rate or full rate: which applies to each payment?
Same termination, two different pay rates. This is where underpayments hide.
Payment in lieu of notice is owed at your full rate: it includes incentive payments and bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, and overtime and penalty rates. Redundancy pay and unused annual leave use the base rate for ordinary hours, which excludes all of those. An employer who pays everything at bare salary has underpaid the notice component of anyone who regularly earns penalties.
| Payment | Rate | Includes bonuses, loadings, allowances, penalties? |
|---|---|---|
| Payment in lieu of notice | Full rate | Yes, all of them |
| Redundancy pay | Base rate | No, ordinary hours only |
| Unused annual leave | Base rate | No, plus 17.5% loading where it applies |
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Notice of termination and redundancy pay fact sheet, content last updated 16 January 2026.
A shift worker on a $90,000 base who averages 20% in penalties should see the in-lieu weeks priced above $1,730.77, while the redundancy weeks stay at base. Two line items, two rates, on the same payslip. That is the rule working as designed, not an error.
Is leave loading paid out even when the award says no?
Yes. The termination payout overrides the award wording.
If you received 17.5% annual leave loading while employed, your unused leave must be paid out with the loading included, even where the award, enterprise agreement or your contract says loading is not paid on termination. Fair Work is explicit about this, and it is one of the most common underpayments in final pays.
The dollars are not trivial. On a $90,000 salary, loading adds $606 to a 76-hour leave payout, and $1,212 to a full 4-week balance. If your final payslip shows a leave payout with no loading line and you were paid loading during employment, query it, and point your employer at the Fair Work final pay guidance.
When does your final pay have to be paid?
Most awards say 7 days. Payment in lieu of notice is faster.
Most awards require final pay within 7 days of the day your employment ends. Where no award or agreement sets a timeframe, the Fair Work Act’s general rule of payment at least monthly applies. Waiting for the next scheduled pay run is normal and usually compliant if that run falls inside the window.
One component cannot wait. Payment in lieu of notice must be paid on or before your last day of employment, an NES requirement under the Fair Work Act 2009 s117. If you were dismissed without notice and told the money will follow next payday, that specific line item is already late.
How much notice are you owed?
The NES minimum notice an employer must give, by years of continuous service.
An employer who ends your job must give written notice, or pay out those weeks in lieu at the full rate. The NES minimum runs from 1 week under a year of service to 4 weeks past five years, plus 1 extra week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years of service when notice is given.
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| 1 year or less | 1 week |
| More than 1 year, up to 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years, up to 5 years | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
Add 1 week if the employee is over 45 and has completed at least 2 years of service when notice is given. No notice is required for casuals, fixed-period or seasonal employees, or dismissal for serious misconduct. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Notice of termination and redundancy pay fact sheet, 16 January 2026.
How is your final pay taxed?
Each component follows its own withholding rule. None of them is your final tax.
Final wages are withheld like any normal pay. Unused annual leave and loading follow ATO Schedule 7 (NAT 3351): marginal rates if you resign or retire, a flat 32% in a genuine redundancy, invalidity or early retirement scheme. No HECS-HELP is withheld from the leave component either way.
Payment in lieu of notice is different again. It is an employment termination payment under ATO Schedule 11, withheld at 32% up to the caps if you are under preservation age, or 17% at preservation age or over, and 47% above the caps. Genuine redundancy pay has its own tax-free amount, $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year of service in 2026-27, covered on the redundancy pay calculator.
Keep withheld and owed separate. Withholding is the payday estimate your employer must take; your actual tax is settled when the income lands in your return alongside everything else that year. A large final pay often over-withholds, and the difference comes back as a refund at tax time.
Who uses this calculator?
Four people staring at the same last payslip for different reasons.
Resigning for a new job
Leave payout plus last wages
You are owed every unused leave hour at base rate plus loading, withheld at marginal rates. The calculator prices it before your employer does.
Dismissed without notice
In lieu at the full rate
The in-lieu weeks must cover loadings, allowances and penalties, and must be paid on or before your last day. Check both the rate and the date.
Made redundant
Three payments, three rules
Leave at 32%, notice as an ETP, redundancy pay with its own 2026-27 tax-free amount. This page prices the first two; the redundancy calculator does the third.
Checking an employer’s numbers
Underpayment hunting
Missing loading on the leave payout and in-lieu paid at bare salary are the two classic shortfalls. If the final pay was short, the backpay calculator works out what catching up is worth.
What changed on 1 July 2026?
The Fair Work rules held; the withholding tables under them were reissued.
The components of final pay, the 7-day norm and the full-rate rule for notice did not change. The ATO republished Schedule 7 (NAT 3351) on 17 June 2026 for payments from 1 July 2026, keeping the flat 32% redundancy-related rate. The marginal-rate side of Schedule 7 now runs on the 2026-27 tax tables, which carry the first-bracket cut from 16% to 15%, so resignation payouts attract slightly less withholding at most incomes.
For the ETP side, the 2026-27 ETP cap is $270,000 and the genuine redundancy tax-free amount is $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year of service. The whole-of-income cap stays at $180,000; it is not indexed.
What are the common mistakes with final pay?
Five errors, three of them made by employers.
Leave paid without loading
The most common shortfall. Loading is owed on the payout if you received it during employment, whatever the award says about termination.
In lieu of notice at base salary
Notice weeks are owed at the full rate including penalties and allowances. Regular shift or weekend workers lose real money when this is paid at base.
In lieu paid on the next pay run
Payment in lieu of notice is due on or before the day employment ends. Only the other components can wait for the 7-day window.
Expecting a sick leave payout
Unused sick and carer’s leave is never paid out. Budgeting on that balance leads to a smaller final pay than expected.
Reading withholding as final tax
A big last payslip often over-withholds, particularly at 32% flat on leave in a redundancy. The true tax settles in your return, not on payday.
Final pay FAQ
Common questions about your last pay when leaving a job.
Sources
The documents behind every figure on this page.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Final pay, content last updated 15 May 2026. Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 ss90(2), 117, 323.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Notice of termination and redundancy pay fact sheet, content last updated 16 January 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Calculating annual leave loading (Library K600323).
- ATO, Schedule 7, Tax table for unused leave payments on termination of employment (NAT 3351, QC107125), published 17 June 2026.
- ATO, Schedule 11, Tax table for employment termination payments, and ATO key superannuation rates and thresholds for 2026-27 ETP figures.
Last verified 23 July 2026.