Leave calculator: earned leave balance, carry forward and encashment
This leave calculator works out how many days of earned leave you have left on any date. Enter your yearly entitlement — your company’s policy, or the statutory one day for every 20 days worked — how leave is credited, what you brought forward and the leave you have taken or planned. Weekly offs and listed holidays are skipped, half days count as 0.5, and you see today’s balance, the year-end projection and what carries forward.
It also values unused leave at basic + DA per day (÷ 30 or ÷ 26) and, for encashment on retirement or resignation, works out the tax-free part. Employees use it to plan a long trip; HR teams use it to settle leave fairly. It runs in your browser and the leave list stays on this device. Results are estimates, not legal or tax advice.
How to use the Leave Calculator
- Choose Company policy and enter the leave a year and how it is credited, or choose Statutory.
- Set the leave year, date of joining, leave brought forward and the carry-forward cap.
- Add each leave with its From and To dates, marking half days where needed.
- Pick your weekly offs and paste your holiday list; tick the sandwich rule only if your employer uses it.
- Set Balance as of, then enter basic + DA to see the encashment value and its tax-free part.
Leave Calculator features
Working days only
Each row deducts only working days and shows the weekly offs and holidays it skipped, including the Sunday plus 2nd and 4th Saturday pattern.
Half days, overlaps, sandwich leave
Half days count 0.5, a date entered twice counts once, and an optional sandwich rule counts offs between leave days.
Three crediting methods
Monthly on the 1st, at month end, or the whole year up front — pro-rated in a joining year.
Statutory mode
One day per 20 days of work with the OSH Code’s 180-day test and the date you pass it.
Encashment with tax
Value at ÷ 30 or ÷ 26 and the four-limit exemption, line by line.
How the leave balance is worked out
Balance = leave brought forward (up to the cap) + leave earned so far − leave taken up to the date. With 18 days a year credited monthly, 1.5 days arrive on the 1st of each month; “at month end” waits for the month to finish. The year-end projection also subtracts leave planned after the date.
Worked example (the default for 14 October 2026): 18 days a year, 12 brought forward, a Saturday–Sunday weekend and four national holidays. Ten monthly credits give 15 days. Leave taken is 17 days: 2–6 March (5), half of 18 May (0.5), 10–21 August (10; 15–16 August is a weekend) and 1–5 October (1.5; 2 October is Gandhi Jayanti and the 5th a half day). The balance is 12 + 15 − 17 = 10 days, worth ₹16,667 at ₹50,000 ÷ 30. With 5 days planned in November, the year ends at 12 + 18 − 22 = 8 days, all carried forward.
Leave rules under the Labour Codes
- Eligibility: under s.32 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020, a worker who works 180 days in a calendar year gets leave with wages — down from 240 days under the Factories Act. Layoff, maternity leave and annual leave count towards the 180 days.
- Rate: one day for every 20 days of work (15 for adolescents) — about 15 days on a six-day week, 12 on a five-day week.
- Carry forward: up to 30 days; leave above that, or refused by the employer, can be encashed. On leaving, accrued leave is paid even before 180 days, and under the Code on Wages, s.17(2), dues on resignation are paid within two working days — see the notice period calculator.
- State laws and policies: state Shops and Establishments Acts also apply — Maharashtra’s 2017 Act gives eight days of casual leave and lets earned leave build up to 45 days. A more generous policy prevails.
Is leave encashment taxable?
Encashment during service is fully taxed as salary. On retirement, Central and State Government employees pay no tax on it. Everyone else gets the least of four limits tax-free (s.19 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, formerly s.10(10AA)): the amount received; ₹25 lakh over a lifetime (up from ₹3 lakh since 1 April 2023), less exemptions claimed earlier; ten months’ average salary; and the value of leave to your credit at no more than 30 days per completed year of service.
Example: 300 days at ₹50,000 a month is ₹5,00,000. With 10 years at 18 days a year and 120 days taken, the leave limit is (180 − 120) × ₹50,000 ÷ 30 = ₹1,00,000 — the lowest — so ₹4,00,000 is taxed. Gratuity has its own exemption (gratuity calculator).
Rules used (as of October 2026)
OSH Code, 2020, s.32 (in force 21 November 2025) and OSH (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026), Ministry of Labour and Employment; Code on Wages, 2019, s.17(2); Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 2017, s.18; Income-tax Act, 2025, s.19 and CBDT Notification 31/2023. Assumptions: statutory leave accrues as you work and is usable after the 180th working day. For payslips use the payroll calculator.
Leave Calculator FAQ
How do I calculate my leave balance?
Add the leave brought forward (up to the cap) to the leave earned this year and subtract the working days of leave taken. The leave calculator does this for any date.
Do weekends and holidays count as leave?
Normally no — only working days are deducted. Some employers apply a “sandwich” rule and also deduct offs between two leave days; tick that option if yours does.
How many earned leaves do I get under the new Labour Codes?
A worker who works 180 days in a calendar year earns one day for every 20 days worked — about 12 to 15 days. Many policies give more, such as 18 or 21.
How many leave days can I carry forward?
Up to 30 under the OSH Code, with the excess encashable. Policies and state laws set their own caps, such as 45 days in Maharashtra.
Is leave encashment divided by 26 or 30?
Encashment = days × (basic + DA) ÷ 30 for most employers; ÷ 26 gives a higher daily rate. Check your policy.
Is leave encashment on resignation taxable?
For private-sector employees, the least of the amount received, ₹25 lakh, ten months’ average salary and the leave value at 30 days per year of service is tax-free; the rest is taxed as salary.