Calculating how many work hours there are in a single year is not that complicated. Even if it’s your first time doing it, by following the steps we’ve laid out, you’ll be able to do it easily and without a hitch.
Calculation: How Many Work Hours in a Year?
1. Calculate Weekly Hours
To do this, you should try to ascertain the average amount of hours you spend at work each week. Please note that if you have an irregular work schedule (i.e., you work different hours on different days during certain weeks), you should think about calculating the number of hours you work per day and then adding those up to get your weekly hours.
For example, if you work eight hours a day Monday through Thursday, and then on Friday, you work six hours, you should add those up to get a weekly average.
8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 6 = 38
If you work a regular full-time job, you should be working around 40 hours per week. Although, there are some countries, especially in the EU, where the average weekly work hours are 36 (or there about).
Bonus tip: If you’re unsure about how many hours you work per week, you could try using time-tracking software to help you track and record those hours automatically.
2. A Little Bit of Math
Once you’ve figured out your weekly work hours, it’s time to do some multiplications. You should take the average number of hours you work per week and multiply it by the number of work weeks in a single year, 52.
For example, if you work 40 hours per week, your calculation will look something like this:
40 x 52 = 2080
So, if you work an average of 40 hours per week, you’ll have 2080 work hours in one year.
Just note that this calculation does not take into account paid holidays or time off. 52 is the total number of work weeks in a single year. This means that if you do have some time off planned for the year and want to know how that will affect your work hours, you have more math to do!
3. Calculate PTO Hours
For this step, let’s assume that you work 40 hours per week and that you have 3 weeks (or 15 work days) of paid time off each year (and you intend to use all of it).
First, you need to calculate how many work hours there are in those 15 work days. To do that, you should multiply that by the average number of hours you work per day (in our case 8 for the 40-hour work week) and you’ll get something like this:
15 x 8 = 120
4. Finally, the End?
Now that we have the total amount of available paid time hours, there’s only one step left to calculate how many work hours are in a year, and it again involves more math (what a plot twist).
You should take the numbers from the previous steps — the number of total work hours and total PTO hours in one year, and subtract them. For our example of a 40-hour work week with 3 weeks of PTO, the calculation will be:
2080 - 120 = 1960
Finally, after subtracting PTO from the total available amount of work hours in a year (for a 40-hour workweek), we get the answer to the question of how many work hours are in a year, and that answer is 1960.
Extra Calculation: How Many Non-Work Hours in a Year?
For those who are big fans of math, we’ve prepared an extra step (with some additional math) to help you figure out how many non-work hours are in a year. To figure that out, first, we need to determine the total number of hours in a year (not work hours, but all hours).
You can do this with a simple Google search or by utilizing the power of math. The first one will take just a couple of seconds, and the latter will take, well, let’s see:
No. of hours in a day = 24
No. of days in a year = 365
24 x 365 = 8760
Now, to determine how many non-work hours are in a year, we have to subtract the total number of work hours in a year from it. Using the 1960 number from the previous step, you’ll get:
8760 - 1960 = 6800
So, according to the math (which is always right) we get that the total number of non-work hours in a year for a 40-hour work week with 15 days of PTO is 6800.
How to Calculate Hourly Pay For Salaried Employees?
Let’s assume that you’re a salaried employee with an income of $60,000 per year, and you want to know what your hourly pay is. In the calculations above, we’ve determined that the number of yearly work hours (for a 40-hour work week and 3 weeks of PTO) is 1960. To calculate how much you're paid an hour, all you have to do is divide your salary by the number of yearly work hours. For our example, that calculation will look something like this:
60,000 / 1960 = 30,61
According to this calculation, someone with a salary of $60,000 is getting paid an hourly amount of $30,61.
Main Reasons It’s Important to Know How Many Work Hours There Are in a Year
- To determine yearly income — For hourly employees who want to plan their finances better, calculating how many work hours in a year makes that possible. With those numbers, you can determine your yearly income and use it as a way to better plan your budget.
- To calculate hourly pay for salaried employees — Even if you are paid a fixed salary per year, you can still calculate how much you earn per hour. Maybe you’re looking to get a raise or feel like your time should be worth more. Whatever the case may be, by calculating the total number of work hours per year, you can determine exactly how much you’re getting paid by the hour.
- To improve work-life balance — By determining how many work hours are in a year, you’ll also know how many hours you’re not working. You can see how much free time you’ll have and plan activities around that to help you maintain or achieve the work-life balance you desire.FAQWhat’s the difference between PTO and Paid Holiday?Paid Holidays are government-recognized days off, also known as public holidays. On the other hand, paid time off (PTO) is usually a part of the benefits package that some employers offer to their employees.
FAQ
What’s the difference between PTO and Paid Holiday?
Paid Holidays are government-recognized days off, also known as public holidays. On the other hand, paid time off (PTO) is usually a part of the benefits package that some employers offer to their employees.
