Vacation Pay Calculator

TL;DR

Estimate vacation pay using a practical approach based on the last 3 months:

• input gross earnings + working days for each month
• compute average daily gross
• multiply by vacation days

Who this is for

• Employees planning time off and wanting a rough payout estimate.
• People checking HR calculations at a high level.
• Anyone comparing “take vacation now vs next month” when income varies (bonuses, variable pay).

How to use it

1. Enter your last 3 months’ gross earnings.
2. Enter the working days for those months.
3. Enter vacation days you plan to take.
4. Read average daily gross and estimated vacation gross.

How the estimate works (plain English)

Most vacation pay calculations boil down to an average daily earning over a recent reference period. This tool uses a simple, practical approach:

1. total earnings over the last 3 months
2. divided by total working days in those months
3. multiplied by the number of vacation days you take

This gives you an estimate of the gross amount associated with your leave days.

What to include in “gross earnings”

Different payroll setups treat components differently. As a practical checklist, your “gross earnings” input should match what your payslip/payroll considers when calculating leave pay. Common components that can change the average:

• bonuses (one-time or quarterly)
• allowances (role-based, on-call, shift-related)
• variable pay (performance, commissions)

If you’re unsure, use the gross total from your payslip for each month and treat this tool as a sanity check.

Worked examples

Example 1: stable salary

If salary is stable, results should be consistent month-to-month.

Example 2: variable months (bonus)

Include the bonus month gross and see how the average changes.

Example 3: planning multiple vacations

Run 5 days vs 10 days to see the impact and plan cashflow.

Example 4: choosing the “best” month for vacation

If you had a strong bonus recently, the 3-month average may be higher. Compare different months (by changing the input months) to understand how timing can affect the estimate.

Edge cases & gotchas

• This is a simplified estimator; real payroll can differ (timing, bonuses, special rules).
• Ensure working days are correct for each month.
• This outputs gross-style amounts; net depends on payroll deductions.
• Vacation days are not the same as working days. Use working days for the divisor and vacation days for the multiplier.

FAQ

Is this the exact legal formula?

Treat it as a practical estimate; validate with your payroll/HR if you need precision.

Why are “working days” important?

Because the daily average depends on how many working days existed in each month. A month with fewer working days can produce a different average than a month with more working days, even with the same salary.

Will the net amount match this estimate?

Not necessarily. Net depends on deductions and your payroll setup. This tool is designed as a gross-style estimator to help you understand the order of magnitude.

What next?

Use Count workdays to estimate working days between dates.

Sources

• Romanian labour code overview: https://www.mmuncii.ro/

Next steps (IT Jobs List)

For employment calculators, treat the result as guidance, not legal advice. Always verify your company policy/contract.

Related tools

• Count workdays

Related guides

Quick recommendation

• Save your assumptions (rates, breaks, thresholds) so you can reproduce the result.
• If you use the output in an invoice/offer, include a short explanation (what’s included and what’s not).

Practical checklist (IT Jobs List)

• Treat calculators as guidance and verify your contract/internal policy.
• Keep one computed example (with numbers) for discussions.
• If working days/holidays matter, clarify the exact period.