California PTO Payout Calculator

California generally treats earned vacation as wages when an employer provides paid vacation, and earned unused vacation generally must be paid when employment ends. Your estimate still depends on the balance actually earned, the final rate of pay, and whether the time is vacation, PTO, sick leave, or another leave category.

A combined PTO bank may be treated like vacation when it functions as paid time off that can be used for vacation. The label alone is not always the whole answer. Check whether your employer separates vacation, sick leave, personal days, holidays, or protected paid sick leave in the policy.

California is generally cautious about forfeiture of earned vacation wages. Employers may use reasonable accrual caps in some situations, but earned vacation is not something to ignore simply because a policy uses forfeiture language. Verify the policy against current California DIR guidance.

Unused sick leave is not automatically the same as vacation payout. California paid sick leave rules are separate, and many employers track sick leave separately from vacation or PTO. Include sick leave in the calculator only if your written policy clearly treats it as payable at separation.

California DIR guidance discusses payment at the final rate of pay for earned unused vacation when employment ends. For an estimate, use your final hourly rate or a careful salary-to-hourly equivalent, then compare the calculator result with your final wage records.

Check your latest accrued balance, final pay rate, whether the balance is vacation or PTO, any accrual cap, your separation date, and the employer's written policy. If the amount is disputed, use official DIR resources or a qualified professional rather than this estimate alone.