Pro rata salary calculator
What a part-time role actually pays, and what reaches your account after tax.
- Take-home a year
- £0
- Take-home a month
- £0
- Share of full-time take-home
Part time keeps more than its share
The salary is a straight proportion: work 60% of full-time hours and you earn 60% of the full-time salary. The take-home is not, and it works in your favour.
Your personal allowance is £12,570 whatever your hours. On a full-time salary it covers a small slice of your pay. On a part-time one it covers a much larger slice, so proportionally less of what you earn is taxed. The same is true of the National Insurance threshold. That is why someone on 60% of the hours usually takes home rather more than 60% of the money, and the figure above shows exactly how much more.
What else is pro rata
Holiday is apportioned: statutory leave is 5.6 weeks of your working week, so three days a week earns 16.8 days rather than 28. Bank holidays are apportioned too, which is the source of most part-time holiday disputes. Pension contributions, sick pay and any bonus are normally proportional as well.
What is not pro rata: the personal allowance, the National Insurance threshold, and the student loan threshold. All three are fixed annual figures, and all three quietly favour part-time work.
What this assumes
A salary that scales exactly with hours, which is the normal arrangement but not universal: some roles pay a shift premium or a fixed allowance that does not scale. It also assumes the standard tax code, no student loan, and no pension contribution. Add those on the take-home pay calculator if you need the full picture.
Common questions
- What does pro rata actually mean in a job advert?
- The salary quoted is what the role pays at full time. If the job is part time you receive the same proportion of it as your hours are of full-time hours. A "£40,000 pro rata" role at three days a week pays £24,000.
- Is my holiday pro rata too?
- Yes. Statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks of your normal working week, so someone working three days a week gets 16.8 days rather than 28. Bank holidays are also apportioned, which is why part-time staff sometimes appear to lose out when a bank holiday falls on a day they do not work.
- Do I pay proportionally less tax?
- You pay less, but not proportionally. The personal allowance is a fixed £12,570 whatever your hours, so it covers a larger share of a part-time salary. A half-time worker usually keeps more than half the take-home of the full-time role.
- What counts as full-time hours?
- There is no legal definition. Most UK employers use 35 to 40 hours, and 37.5 is the commonest. The figure that matters is the one in your contract, so use that rather than an assumption.