NT Leave Calculator.
Calculate every leave entitlement for Northern Territory employees, under the Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT), Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the National Employment Standards.
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| Component | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Accrual rate (FULL-TIME) | 4 wks × 38h ÷ 52 | 2.923 hrs/wk |
| Hours accrued | 2.923 × 52 wks | 152.42 hrs |
| Hourly base rate | - | $35.00 |
| Base leave value | 152.42 × $35.00 | $5,334.62 |
| 17.5% leave loading | base × 0.175 | + $933.56 |
| Total payout | - | $6,268.17 |
Disclaimer: This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. Results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation or your circumstances. This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. We do not recommend taking actions based solely on these results. The calculator makes assumptions and results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation, modern awards, or your personal circumstances. You use this information at your own risk. We can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. For official guidance, visit Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au). Fair Work Ombudsman.
Three numbers every NT employee should know.
The NES sets the federal floor; state law adds the long service entitlement and gazetted holidays.
Every NT leave calculator.
Each calculator below is pre-configured for NT law.
NT Long Service Leave
13.00 weeks after 10 yrs. Pro-rata from 7 yrs. Under the Long Service Leave Act 1981.
Open NT Long Service Leave calculatorNT Public Holidays 2026 & 2027
13 gazetted holidays in 2026 plus the 2027 calendar. Penalty rates by award, substitute days when a holiday falls on a weekend.
Open NT Public Holidays 2026 & 2027 calculatorRedundancy Pay (National)
NES sliding scale, 4-16 weeks based on years of service. Small business exemption built in. Section 119 Fair Work Act.
Open Redundancy Pay (National) calculatorAnnual & Personal Leave
Federal entitlements identical across every state, 4 weeks annual + 10 days personal under the NES. National calculator.
Open Annual & Personal Leave calculatorLong service leave is the one entitlement Northern Territory sets for itself. Under the Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) you reach 13.00 weeks at 10 years, with a pro-rata payout available from 7 years, worked out on NT long service leave. Whether that pro-rata amount is actually paid depends on why the job ended, which differs by state and is set out in pro-rata long service leave. Northern Territory also gazettes 13 public holidays in 2026, listed with penalty rates on NT public holidays.
Everything else comes from the National Employment Standards and is identical in every state: 4 weeks of annual leave, 10 days of personal and carer's leave, unpaid parental leave, and redundancy pay on the section 119 scale. When a job ends, final pay brings the notice, unused leave and redundancy components together. The rules themselves are explained in the National Employment Standards guide.
Northern Territory long service leave
The Northern Territory matches South Australia for generosity. Under the Long Service Leave Act 1981 the entitlement is 13 weeks after 10 years of continuous employment, accruing at 1.3 weeks for each year of service.
The full entitlement is 13 weeks at 10 years, accruing at 1.3 weeks per year, set by the Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) rather than federal law. Choose long service leave in the calculator above to work out your own balance.
Leaving before 10 years: pro-rata in NT
Pro-rata long service leave becomes possible at 7 years of continuous service in Northern Territory. That threshold is necessary, but here it is not sufficient.
The rule for all eight states is side by side in the pro-rata long service leave guide.
What counts as continuous service
Service is continuous with the one employer and survives paid leave, agreed unpaid absences and a transfer of business. The Territory counts completed years only for pro-rata purposes, which is unusual and means part-years are simply discarded rather than counted proportionally.
How the payment is calculated
Payment is at your ordinary rate when the leave is taken or paid out, excluding overtime. Where the rate has changed, the NT uses the rate applying at the time of payment.
Jess, 10 years with one employer, a Darwin civil works estimator, on $1,720 a week.
13.00 x $1,720 = $22,360.00 gross, whether taken as paid leave or paid out on termination. The tax on a payout depends on when the service was performed: see the long service leave tax calculator.
The NT catch worth knowing
The completed-years rule is the NT quirk that costs people money. An employee leaving at 8 years and 11 months is paid for 8 years, not 8.9. If you are close to a year boundary and the timing of your exit is within your control, waiting for the anniversary is worth 1.3 weeks of pay.
The Northern Territory discards your part year entirely
The Northern Territory pays for completed years of service only. A part year is not paid pro-rata, it is simply not counted. Leave after 8 years and 11 months and you are paid for 8 years, not 8.9, and because the Territory accrues at 1.3 weeks per year rather than the 0.8667 used in most states, that discarded fraction is worth more here than almost anywhere else: roughly 1.3 weeks of pay lost by finishing one month early. Very few jurisdictions round against the worker this way. If you have any control over your finish date and you are approaching an anniversary, work out the date you complete the year and, where you can, leave after it rather than before it. On a 10-year balance the difference is a fortnight of pay.
Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) s.10. Verified 11 August 2026.
You cannot cash out Northern Territory long service leave by default
Section 10(4) of the Long Service Leave Act 1981 prevents an employee receiving a payment instead of long service leave while still employed. The leave has to be taken. The default can be displaced where an employment agreement or a certified agreement specifically provides otherwise, so the question to ask is whether any instrument covering you says so, rather than whether your employer is willing. That is a meaningfully different position from South Australia and Tasmania, where the Act itself supplies the cash-out mechanism and a written agreement between the parties is enough. If someone has told you that Territory long service leave can be paid out on request while you keep working, ask them to point to the instrument that permits it.
Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) s.10(4). Verified 11 August 2026.
Unpaid leave in the Territory stops accrual without breaking service
Periods of unpaid leave, including unpaid parental leave, do not count towards long service leave accrual in the Northern Territory, and they do not break your continuity of service either. Your anniversary simply moves back by the length of the absence. Read this alongside the completed-years rule above, because the two compound: a career break not only fails to accrue, it also shifts the date on which your next full year completes, and only completed years are paid. A Territory worker taking a year of unpaid parental leave therefore reaches a paid 10 years around 11 years after starting. Victoria counts up to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave as service for accrual, so the same year off produces a materially different result depending on where you work.
Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT). Verified 11 August 2026.
How NT compares.
Federal annual leave is identical everywhere. State LSL and public holidays differ.
Modern awards common in Northern Territory.
Industry awards layered on top of the NES. Each award has its own penalty rates, leave loading and (sometimes) RDO arrangements.
NT-specific leave questions.
How much long service leave do I get in NT?
When does NT long service leave become payable on termination?
What's the NT pro-rata LSL formula?
Do NT casuals get long service leave?
How many public holidays does NT have in 2026?
Does NT substitute public holidays that fall on weekends?
Is annual leave different in NT?
What law governs long service leave in NT?
Built on NT law.
This NT calculator is built directly from the Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT), the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and current NT Industrial Relations guidance.
Reviewed by a registered HR practitioner based in Darwin.