Skip to main content
Wage Calculator Australia
Calculate my pay

Casual Loading Calculator

Convert a permanent base rate into a casual rate, and see what the loading is worth a week and a year. Casual loading compensates for entitlements casuals do not get, principally paid annual leave, paid sick leave and notice of termination.

Your details

Casual hourly rate

$37.50

Permanent base rate
$30.00
Casual loading at 25%
$7.50
Casual hourly rate
$37.50
Per week, 38 hrs
$1,425.00
Annualised at those hours
$74,100

The loading compensates for no paid annual leave, no paid sick leave and no notice of termination. 25% is the figure in most modern awards, but check your own.

Worked examples, with the arithmetic.

The same sums the tool runs, on real figures. Every number below is computed by the tested engine from the published rates, so the prose and the tool can never disagree.

What is $30 an hour with 25% casual loading?

$30 x 1.25               = $37.50 casual rate
loading itself                = $7.50 an hour

The casual rate is $37.50 an hour, so the loading is worth $7.50 an hour, or $285.00 across a 38-hour week. It is not a bonus: it stands in for paid annual leave, paid sick leave and notice of termination.

Is 25% actually enough to cover what casuals give up?

4 weeks annual leave          = 7.7% of a year
2 weeks personal leave        = 3.8% of a year
notice and redundancy         = not quantified here

Four weeks of annual leave is about 7.7% of a working year and ten days of personal leave about 3.8%, so the paid-leave value alone is roughly 11.5%. The remaining loading covers notice, redundancy and the insecurity of the engagement. Whether 25% is adequate is a policy question this page does not answer.

Is this accurate, and how does it work?

The method is published rather than described. Nothing here is a black box, and the limits are listed as plainly as the workings.

  1. 1Start from the permanent base rate. The loading is applied to the base rate for the same classification, so the comparison is like for like.
  2. 2Add the loading percentage. 25% is the rate in most modern awards. Some awards and agreements differ, so the rate is editable rather than fixed.
  3. 3Remember what it replaces. A casual on 25% loading is not 25% better off. The loading stands in for four weeks of annual leave, paid personal leave and notice, which together are worth more than 25% to many workers.

What this does not cover.

  • It applies the loading to an ordinary base rate. It does not calculate a casual penalty rate: those are the award percentage plus 25 points, published per award on the penalty rate pages.
  • It does not tell you whether you are correctly classified as a casual, which depends on the real nature of the engagement.
  • It does not model casual conversion to permanent employment.
  • It does not include superannuation, which is paid on top of the casual rate.

Where these figures come from.

Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.

Common questions.

How do I calculate casual loading?

Multiply the permanent base hourly rate by 1.25 for a 25% loading. On a $30 base rate the casual rate is $37.50 an hour, so the loading itself is $7.50 an hour.

Is casual loading always 25%?

It is 25% in most modern awards, but not all, and an enterprise agreement can set a different figure. The award pages on this site publish the loading that applies to each award we have extracted.

What does casual loading pay for?

It compensates for entitlements casual employees do not receive: paid annual leave, paid sick and carer’s leave, notice of termination and redundancy pay. It is not a bonus for flexibility.

Do casuals get penalty rates as well as loading?

Yes, and the loading is absorbed into the penalty rate rather than multiplied by it. Where an award sets a period at a given percentage of the full-time minimum hourly rate, the casual percentage for that same period is that percentage plus 25 points, not that percentage multiplied by 1.25. Multiplying is the common error and it overstates the rate, because it adds a quarter of the penalty as well as a quarter of the base.

Related pages.

  • Casual LoadingCasual loading is 25 per cent in every award we publish. What differs is whether the award prints the casual rate or leaves it to be derived.
  • Overtime CalculatorWork out a week mixing ordinary hours, time and a half and double time, and see what the overtime portion is worth.
  • Annual Leave CalculatorWork out annual leave accrued in hours, days and dollars under the four-week National Employment Standards entitlement.
  • Award Pay RatesModern award minimum pay rates by industry, how classification levels and pay points work, and how casual loading and penalty rates change what you earn.

Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.