It is typically assumed that 40-hour working weeks in a year with an individual working 8 hours a day, five days a week. To determine your weekly paid leave benefit amount, we need to know the average number of hours you work weekly. This article helps calculate your average work week hours to prorated benefit rate for intermittent and reduced leave applications. You can use it to determine how much we will pay you for time off during an intermittent leave.
How to Calculate Working Hours?
You must know your work schedule to determine your weekly paid leave benefit amount. Because paid leave benefits from PFML are based on weeks. So, you must determine the average weekly hours to determine how many weeks of leave you take. For example, if you work an average of 30 hours per week and take 45 hours of leave, that is 1.5 weeks.
If you have worked a consistent weekly schedule, you can use that to determine your average working hours. However, if your schedule varies and is inconsistent weekly, here is how to determine your average hours worked. Calculate the average weekly hours you work when you apply for paid leave. It will establish your prorated benefit rate for intermittent and reduced leave claims. Also, determine how much we will pay you for time off during an intermittent leave.
What is My Average Work Week?
The average hours you work per week are those you worked during your highest earning quarters in the 12 months before you applied for paid leave. This number must be as accurate as possible to have paid leave benefits from PFML. To calculate this, follow the steps below. It is important to follow these steps because your work schedule may vary from week to week. You can review your pay stubs or ask your employer to help with steps 1 and 2. During the application review process, the Department will confirm the average weekly working hours with your employer.
How Do You Calculate Your Average Working Hours?
- Determine the two highest earning quarters in the 12 months before you submit your application for paid leave.
- Determine the total hours you worked for each of those two quarters.
- Add your total hours in the two highest-earning quarters 12 months before your application.
- Divide the total hours by 26 (the number of weeks in two quarters).
- The resulting number is the average number of hours you work per week.
Use this number when asked for the average number of hours in your work week. Let's understand this with an example. Avery works a rotating schedule that changes every two weeks. Before submitting their paid leave application to DFML, they worked 520 hours in their two highest-earning quarters in the last 12 months. Avery worked 520 hours in their two highest-earning quarters. Avery works an average of 20 hours per work week (520 divided by 26 weeks).
Calculating the Hours, You Would Have Worked When You Took Previous Leave
If you are reporting leave that you took in the past before the start of your paid leave from DFML, you need to report the number of hours you would normally have worked. This is the number of hours you would have worked during those weeks if you had not taken leave.
How do You Calculate the Hours you Normally Worked for previous leave?
- If you took a leave for a qualifying reason a year before your start date, figure out which days you took leave.
- Determine how many weeks those days stretched across. Calculate weeks from Sunday to Saturday.
- For each week you had any leave, record the hours you would have worked if you were not taking leave.
- Add up the number of hours from each week to get your total.
- Divide by the total number of weeks.
- The resulting number is the average number of hours you worked during the weeks you took your previous leave.
Use this number when asked for the hours you normally worked when you took previous leave. Let us understand this with an example. Hayden took medical leave starting on Thursday, March 4, 2021. They were off work until Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The days they took off were Thursday, Friday, and Wednesday.
If they had not taken leave, Hayden would have worked 30 hours from February 28 – March 6. They would have worked 40 hours between March 7 – March 13. Even though they took off three days in those two weeks, we are looking for how many hours they would have worked if they had not taken off those three days. Hayden would have worked 70 hours over 2 weeks if they were not on leave. (30 hours in week 1 plus 40 hours in week 2. Hayden's normal hours they would have worked per week is 35. (70 hours divided by 2 weeks.)