How Many Work Hours Are in a Year? (How To Calculate and FAQs)
Depending on your position, your contract may state your working hours daily, weekly, monthly or annually. Being able to calculate how many hours you work in a year, in addition to your paid leave and other considerations, can help you assess how much time you’re dedicating to work. This can be important for assessing your work-life balance or negotiating a higher salary based on your total contributions, especially if your working hours differ from normal full-time work. In this article, we explain the process for determining how many work hours there are in a year and some related FAQs.
You might want to know how many work hours in a year for a number of reasons. Knowing the exact answer to ‘how many work hours in a year?’ allows you to determine whether you’re being fairly compensated. It can also help you plan and budget for the future. Below is a list of benefits to knowing your annual working hours:
Calculating your annual income
If your job stipulates pay on an hourly basis, calculating what this figure is on an annual basis allows you to determine how to set your budget for accommodation, living expenses and whether you can save money. It also gives you some perspective when negotiating your pay with a prospective employer. This could be particularly relevant if it’s not a traditional full-time position or if it’s a side job that provides you with supplemental income. If you’re a sole trader, you’re going to need to calculate your annual earnings to complete your tax self-assessment.
Calculating your hourly pay
Conversely, if your salary is stipulated on an annual basis, knowing how many hours you work per year can tell you how much you’re paid per hour. An annual salary may seem like a considerable sum of money, but calculating what this means hourly can change your perspective. This also allows you to compare different jobs if one pays hourly and the other advertises an annual salary.
Managing your free time
In addition to the financial implications of knowing your annual workload, it also indicates how much free time you’re going to have. If you like to make long-term plans or develop ongoing habits like exercising, reading, studying or a hobby, you can plan ahead accordingly. For example, if your hobby is playing a sport, you can work out how many hours you need to work to afford new equipment.
Assessing your work-life balance
Maintaining a suitable work-life balance has many benefits. One of the most important is your own wellbeing. This also affects your productivity and ability to remain motivated at work. Calculating your annual working hours can help you determine if you’re dedicating too much time to work or if you could be doing more. Ensuring that you have adequate time to look after yourself away from work can actually benefit your career in the long term.
What’s the difference between an hourly employee and a salaried employee?
There are two common types of employees, hourly and salaried. Hourly employees receive compensation based on the number of hours they work each week. For example, a part-time employee may make $15 per hour. If they work 20 hours a week on average, they earn $300 a week. Salaried employees receive a fixed amount, typically per year. Companies typically offer a fixed amount for a fixed number of hours per week. For example, an employer may offer $60,000 a year to an employee who works 40 hours per week.
Hourly and salaried employees may receive their pay bi-monthly or monthly, depending on the agreement they have with their employer. If you’re a salaried employee and want to determine your hourly pay, you can divide your annual salary by 52, then divide it again by the number of hours you typically work per week. For example, if you earn $70,000 per year and typically work 40 hours per week, divide $70,000 by 52 to get 800,346. Then, divide that by 40 to get $33. This means you make $33 an hour.
How to calculate the number of work hours in a year
1. Calculate your weekly hours
Start by determining the average number of hours that you work per week. You may also want to consider the number of hours you work in a day, especially if you work more hours some days than others. Add up all the hours you work each day of the week to find out how many hours you work each week, on average.
For example, you may work eight hours per day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and six hours per day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means you work an average of 36 hours per week. If you work a standard eight hours per day, five days per week, you work 40 hours per week.
2. Multiply them by 52
Take the average number of hours you work in a week and multiply that number by 52, as there are 52 weeks in a year. This helps you determine the total number of hours you may work in a year if you don’t take any time away from work for vacations or holidays. This is just an estimate, as you’re likely going to take some time off.
3. Calculate your paid time off hours
Next, calculate the total number of hours you spend out of the office each year on paid time off (PTO). Depending on your company, PTO may include all of your time off, or your organization may divide the time into sick time and vacation time. If you generally take all of your allotted sick and vacation time every year, you can calculate the total number of hours you have. Otherwise, you may want to only include your vacation time and perhaps an estimate of the amount of time you spend out of the office on sick leave.
For example, if you get three weeks every year of vacation time and also usually take all five days of available sick leave, you multiply five by three to get the total number of vacation days, which is 15. You can then add five additional days for the sick time, leaving you with 20 total days. Next, multiply those days by the number of hours you generally work each day. If it’s eight hours per day, you have a total of 160 hours of paid time off with both vacation time and sick leave.
4. Calculate your paid holiday hours
Next, count the number of paid holidays you receive from your employer. Multiply those days by the number of hours you work per day. If you receive 10 paid holidays per year and work eight hours per day, you receive 80 hours of time off for paid holidays.
5. Add your total time off
To find the total amount of time you receive away from work, add the total number of PTO hours to the total number of paid holiday hours. Using the same example, if you receive 160 hours of paid time off and 80 hours in paid holidays, you receive a total of 240 paid hours away from work. This is just an estimate as you may not take all your allotted time off.
6. Subtract total time off from annual hours
In step two, you calculated the total number of hours you work if you don’t take any time off. To find out how many hours you work in a year, subtract the total time you take away from work, the amount you determined in step five, from the total amount you worked in step two. The formula looks like this:
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Resource:
https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-many-work-hours-in-a-year
https://emplois.ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-many-work-hours-in-year
https://algrim.co/2108-hours-in-a-year