How the result is calculated
The standard week is 35 hours in France and 48 in India. Overtime pays double in India, 25% more in Japan and nothing extra at all in Britain. And in every country except the United States, some of the year is paid but not worked, which makes the rate per hour on the job higher than the rate on the contract. Those three differences are what this guide is about, because each of them changes what the same salary is worth.
Annual payhourly rate × weekly hours × 52 + overtime pay
Hourly rateannual pay ÷ (weekly hours × 52)
Hours actually workedpaid hours − days off × hours per day
Rate per hour workedannual pay ÷ hours actually worked
- weekly hours
- the hours on your contract; the country's standard week is the opening figure
- days off
- statutory paid leave plus public holidays, from the country's rules
- hours per day
- weekly hours ÷ days per week
A year is really 52.18 weeks, which is why payroll systems that pay weekly or fortnightly run a 53-week year every fifth or sixth year, and mixing the two conventions is the usual reason two calculators disagree by a per cent or two. The monthly figure is the annual salary divided by twelve, never the weekly figure multiplied by four: four weeks is 28 days and an average month is 30.4, so multiplying by four understates monthly pay by about 8%. For the same reason a biweekly amount times 26 and a semi-monthly amount times 24 both come back to the same annual salary.
Worked example
| Item | Amount | How it is obtained |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours a year | 2,080 | 40 × 52 |
| Annual salary | $52,000.00 | 25 × 2,080 |
| Per month | $4,333.33 | 52,000 ÷ 12 |
| Every two weeks | $2,000.00 | 52,000 ÷ 26 |
| Per week | $1,000.00 | 52,000 ÷ 52 |
| Days off | 0 | no statutory leave and no statutory public holidays |
| Rate per hour worked | $25.00 | 52,000 ÷ 2,080: the same as the headline rate |
| Item | Amount | How it is obtained |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours a year | 1,820 | 35-hour legal week × 52 |
| Hourly rate | 28.57 | 52,000 ÷ 1,820 |
| Days off | 36 | 25 days of leave + 11 public holidays |
| Hours paid but not worked | 252 | 36 × 7 hours a day |
| Hours actually worked | 1,568 | 1,820 − 252 |
| Rate per hour worked | 33.16 | 52,000 ÷ 1,568: nearly a third more than the American figure on the identical salary |
Reading the result
The headline is the figure you did not enter: the annual salary from an hourly rate, or the hourly rate from a salary. Beneath it the pay is shown for each period the country actually uses, with the paid hours it rests on, and, where the country has statutory leave, the rate per hour actually worked beside the headline rate. Where a salary is contractually split into more instalments than there are months, the instalment is shown alongside the twelfth.
What changes the result
Standard weeks and overtime, by country
| Country | Standard week | Statutory overtime |
|---|---|---|
| France | 35 hours | 25% for hours 36 to 43, then 50% |
| Australia | 38 hours | award-based, commonly 1.5x then 2x |
| United States | 40 hours | 1.5x above 40 |
| Japan | 40 hours | 1.25x, and 1.5x beyond 60 hours a month |
| Finland | 40 hours | 1.5x for two hours a day, then 2x |
| Sri Lanka | 45 hours | 1.5x, capped at 12 overtime hours a week |
| India | 48 hours over six days | 2x |
| Britain, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden | 37.5 to 40 hours | none required by law |
That last row is the one that surprises people. In much of Europe the labour code sets a maximum average week and a minimum rest period but says nothing about paying more for the extra hours. Any enhanced rate comes from a collective agreement or from your own contract. Where a country in that row qualifies the rule, its own page carries the statute and the wording.
Where the premium steps up, it steps up in the country's own way. Some rules count from a threshold in the week, others from a threshold inside the working day or the month, so the same ten overtime hours can be worth different money depending on how they fall. The calculator applies each country's published rule to a weekly figure and tells you when a daily or monthly threshold means your own split could change the answer.
Paid hours are not worked hours
This is where the American default does the most damage. The United States is the only developed country with no statutory paid leave and no statutory paid public holidays, so an American salary genuinely is spread over 2,080 hours. Everywhere else, a chunk of the year is paid without being worked.
| Country | Statutory leave | Public holidays |
|---|---|---|
| United States | none | none |
| Canada | 10 days | about 9 |
| Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand | 20 days | 0 to 12 |
| Spain | 22 working days | 14 |
| France, Finland, Sweden | 25 days | about 11 |
| Britain | 28 days, which may include the bank holidays | counted above |
Turn on "count statutory time off" and the calculator divides your pay by the hours you are actually at work. That figure is the honest one for comparing a job in one country with a job in another, and it moves the answer by a sixth or more. Note what this does not do: it never adds weeks of pay. The year stays 52 paid weeks whatever the leave entitlement, because paid leave is paid out of the same salary rather than on top of it. Leave only changes the denominator, which is precisely why the headline hourly rate and the rate per hour worked drift apart.
Pay periods differ too
The list of periods you get is the list your country uses. Semi-monthly pay, twice a month on fixed dates, is an American and Canadian arrangement and is not offered elsewhere. Most of Europe pays monthly and nothing else. Not every country divides the year into twelve: where a salary is contractually split into more instalments than there are months, the payslip figure and the annual salary divided by twelve are two different numbers, and quoting the wrong one to a lender or a landlord is a real problem. The country's page explains the arrangement where it applies.
What is not included
- Tax. Everything here is gross. The take-home pay calculator applies your country's income tax and social contributions.
- Bonuses. Japanese employers commonly pay several months of salary as summer and winter bonuses, which no hourly conversion captures.
- Unpaid breaks. Most countries require a rest break that is not counted as working time, so contracted hours may already exclude it.
- Shift and weekend premiums. Night, weekend and public-holiday work often pays more than plain overtime, at rates set by agreement rather than by statute.
- Allowances paid beside salary. Some countries add a fixed percentage on top of the contractual salary at a set time of year. Where that happens it is on the country's page, because it is not part of the hourly conversion.
Using the result
Use the plain hourly figure to compare two jobs inside the same country, and the rate per hour actually worked to compare jobs across countries or to weigh a job with generous leave against one that pays more. When you are quoting a rate as a contractor, remember that the paid-leave figure is a real part of an employee's package that you have to fund yourself, so matching an employee's headline rate usually means charging the higher one.