Free PTO & pay calculators.
We provide 13 free payroll, vacation, and tax calculators designed to handle exit-pay math. Every tool runs locally in your browser, ensuring no signups are required and no personal or financial data is ever collected or stored on our servers. Use these specialized widgets to compute accurate payouts under state regulations and federal IRS supplemental tax codes.
Termination & Exit Pay
Accrual, Tracking & Rules
Conversions & Specialty Leave
A Complete Guide to Exit Pay and Payout Calculations
When leaving an employer—whether through voluntary resignation, retirement, or involuntary layoff—navigating your final pay package is key to ensuring you receive all earned compensation. Final exit pay typically encompasses a variety of components beyond your final hours worked, including accrued vacation hours, unpaid overtime, commissions, and severance packages.
How Supplemental Wage Withholding Affects Your Net Pay
One of the most common surprises for departing employees is the difference between their gross payout and their net take-home pay. The IRS classifies vacation payouts and severance as supplemental wages. Unlike regular wages, which are subject to graduated tax brackets, supplemental wages are withheld at a flat federal rate of 22%. When you combine this with state supplemental withholding rates (which can reach up to 10.23% in California) and FICA taxes (7.65%), your total tax withholding on a PTO cash-out can exceed 35% to 40%.
Do Employers Have to Pay Out Accrued Paid Time Off?
The legal requirement to pay out accrued, unused paid time off (PTO) or vacation days is determined exclusively by state law. Federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not mandate payouts.
- Vesting States (e.g., California, Illinois, Colorado): Treat vacation time as earned wages that vest day-by-day. In these states, employers are prohibited from implementing "use-it-or-lose-it" policies that cause accrued time to forfeit, and they must pay out all unused hours at the employee's final rate of pay.
- Policy-Dependent States (e.g., Texas, New York, Ohio): Permit employers to set their own terms in employee handbooks. If a company handbook or contract states that PTO is forfeited upon resignation without two weeks' notice, state courts will uphold that policy. However, if the policy is silent or promises a payout, the employer is legally bound to pay.
- No-Law States (e.g., Florida, Georgia, Alabama): Have no statutory rules governing PTO payout, leaving it entirely to the employer's discretion and the employment contract.
Key Steps to Calculate Your Estimated Final Check
To calculate your expected final payment:
- Determine your final hours worked in the current pay period and multiply by your regular hourly rate.
- Calculate your accrued, unused PTO balance. For salaried employees, convert your salary to an hourly rate (Annual Salary divided by 2,080 hours) to find the cash value of each vacation hour.
- Incorporate any outstanding commissions or earned bonuses that are payable under your agreement.
- Deduct regular income tax withholdings from your regular hours, and apply the flat 22% federal supplemental rate plus state and FICA taxes to the vacation payout.
All calculations are estimates based on 2026 IRS supplemental wage rates and current state labor guidelines. No data is stored or transmitted. Not legal or tax advice — consult a qualified professional for binding decisions.