When you wake up with a fever, a stomach bug, or a sick child who cannot stay home alone, the last thing you want to wonder about is whether you can afford the day off. This sick leave calculator turns your salary and your employer's accrual policy into three plain numbers: how much paid sick time you have actually earned, what a paid day off is worth on your next paycheck, and what an unpaid day off will cost you.
Sick leave works differently from paid vacation. Vacation is usually a front-loaded annual grant (say 15 days on day one). Sick leave almost always accrues — you earn it hour by hour as you work, up to a state-mandated or employer-set cap. That means your "balance" in January is not the same as your balance in August, and a day taken in February may be partly unpaid even though you have a job that advertises "paid sick time."
Adjust the sliders below and every figure updates instantly. Plug in your real annual salary, the accrual rate from your employee handbook, and the number of days you have already taken this year.
How to Use
- Enter your Annual Salary — your gross yearly pay before taxes, 401(k), and insurance deductions. If you are an hourly worker, multiply your hourly rate by 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks) to estimate it.
- Set Working Days per Year. The full-time default is 260 (5 days a week × 52 weeks). If your contract takes two extra weeks of shutdown, use 250.
- Type your Hours per Workday — almost always 8, but part-timers should enter their real average.
- Enter Paid Sick Days Taken — the protected, employer-paid sick days you have already used this year.
- Enter your Accrued Sick-Hour Balance from your HR dashboard. This is the number that actually decides whether your next sick day is paid.
- In the advanced options, set Hours Earned and Per Hours Worked. The federal de-facto standard and the rule in many states (California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts) is 1 hour of paid sick leave per 30 hours worked.
- Set your Annual Accrual Cap — most state laws and company policies cap accrual at 40 hours (5 days) per year, though some allow up to 56.
- Add Unpaid Sick Days for days you took off beyond your paid bank — this is where lost wages show up.
- Finally, set the Pay Replacement Rate. Your own employer's sick leave usually replaces 100% of pay; state disability insurance (SDI) and FMLA leave often replace only 50–70%.
The result card then shows your daily pay rate, the sick hours you will earn all year, your current balance converted into days, the actual dollars that will be paid for the days you already took, and the wages you lose on unpaid days.
How the Math Works
The core formula is deliberately simple:
Daily pay rate = Annual Salary ÷ Working Days per Year
If you earn $60,000 a year and work 260 days, one workday is worth $230.77. That single number drives every other result:
- Paid sick leave this period = daily rate × paid days taken × replacement rate. On $60,000, five paid days at 100% replacement is $1,153.85 — the wages you receive for not working.
- Annual sick hours earned = (working days × hours per day) ÷ (hours worked per accrual interval) × hours credited, capped at your annual cap. At 2,080 worked hours and a 1-per-30 rule, you earn 69.3 hours before the cap kicks in; if your policy caps at 40 hours, your real annual accrual is 40 hours.
- Current balance in days = accrued sick hours ÷ hours per day. A 40-hour bank equals 5 working days.
- Unpaid day cost = daily rate × unpaid days. Two unpaid days on $60,000 costs $461.54 in take-home pay.
Accrual vs. Grant: Why Your Balance Moves
There are two ways companies grant sick leave, and they behave very differently:
- Front-loaded grant. Some employers put a fixed balance (e.g., 40 hours) on your account on January 1. You can use it all in week one, and it does not grow. This is generous but rare.
- Hourly accrual. The far more common model. You earn roughly 0.033 hours for every hour you work (1 per 30). Over a full year at 2,080 hours, that is about 69 hours earned — but the annual cap usually stops you at 40 or 56. If you take 5 sick days in February, you have already spent most of what you will earn by June.
The 1-per-30 accrual rule comes from state paid sick leave laws, beginning with San Francisco in 2007 and now adopted by more than a dozen states and dozens of cities. Federal law does not mandate paid sick leave, but FMLA guarantees unpaid job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks at eligible companies.
Examples
Example 1 — Standard full-time employee. A teacher earning $60,000 works 260 days, has used 5 paid sick days, has 40 hours banked, accrues 1 hour per 30 worked, capped at 40 hours, and took 2 unpaid personal days this year. The daily rate is $230.77, annual accrual is 40 hours, the current balance is 5 days, paid sick leave already paid out is $1,153.85, and the two unpaid days cost $461.54. Total income at risk this year: $461.54.
Example 2 — High earner stress test. An executive on $1,200,000 takes 10 paid sick days with an 80-hour bank. The daily rate jumps to $4,615.38, so those 10 paid days are worth $46,153.85 in protected wages. Two extra unpaid days beyond the bank cost $9,230.77 — a reminder that for high earners, managing the unpaid tail matters as much as the paid days.
Example 3 — Partial state disability replacement. A worker earning $85,000 takes 3 days covered at only 70% by state temporary disability, with 1 unpaid day on top. Daily rate is $326.92; paid leave at 70% pays $686.54 instead of the full $980.77; the unpaid day costs another $326.92. Total income at risk: $621.15 — the 30% gap on protected days plus the fully unpaid day.
FAQ
How is my sick leave pay calculated?
Multiply your daily pay rate (annual salary divided by working days per year) by the number of paid sick days you took, then multiply by your pay replacement rate. On $60,000 with 260 work days, each paid sick day is worth $230.77 at 100% pay, or $161.54 at 70% replacement.
How much sick leave do I accrue per year?
Under the common 1-hour-per-30-hours-worked rule, a full-time worker on 2,080 hours earns about 69.3 hours per year. Most state laws and company policies cap this at 40 hours (5 days) or 56 hours (7 days), so your real annual accrual is usually the lower of 69.3 or your cap.
Is sick leave the same as PTO?
No. PTO (paid time off) usually lumps vacation, sick, and personal days into one flexible bank. True sick leave is a protected category: under state law, it must be available for the employee's own illness, care of a family member, and safe-leave reasons such as domestic violence, and employers cannot use it as vacation.
What happens if I use more sick leave than I accrued?
Days beyond your accrued bank are typically unpaid. They show up as a reduction on your next paycheck — that is what the Unpaid Sick Days input models. Some employers will let you draw against future accrual; others will not, and a few will dock your PTO balance instead. Check your employee handbook.
Does FMLA pay me my full salary?
No. FMLA guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying medical and family events. Your employer may choose to run it concurrently with your accrued PTO or paid sick leave, and some states (California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Washington) run state disability insurance programs that replace 50–70% of wages. That is why this calculator has a Pay Replacement Rate slider.
Does my sick leave roll over to the next year?
Under most state paid sick leave laws, unused sick time must carry over, but the employer can cap the use in a given year at 40 or 56 hours. Some employers pay out unused sick leave at termination; many do not. Your HR portal is the source of truth.
Is sick leave taxed?
Yes. Paid sick leave paid by your employer is treated like regular wages and is subject to federal, state, Social Security, and Medicare withholding. State disability insurance benefits may be taxed federally depending on your income. This calculator shows gross figures; your take-home will be about 20–30% lower after taxes.
Disclaimer
This sick leave calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, HR, payroll, or tax advice. Accrual rules, caps, and pay replacement rates vary by state, city, employer policy, and employment contract, and may change. FMLA eligibility and state disability insurance benefits depend on hours worked, employer size, and specific medical circumstances. Always confirm your actual balance, accrual rate, and leave policy directly with your HR department or a qualified employment lawyer before making leave or pay decisions.