Answers · UK 2025/26

How does pro-rata salary work for part-time roles?

A pro-rata salary scales a full-time equivalent (FTE) salary down proportionally based on the hours or days you actually work -- for example, working 3 days a week (60% of a standard 5-day week) on a role advertised as £40,000 FTE would pay £24,000 a year. Job adverts should clearly state whether the quoted figure is FTE or the actual pro-rata amount.

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Pro-rata salaries are standard practice for part-time roles, and understanding how the calculation works is essential for accurately comparing job offers or negotiating fair pay for reduced hours. **The basic calculation** Pro-rata salary = (Full-Time Equivalent salary) × (your hours or days worked ÷ standard full-time hours or days). If a role is advertised at £35,000 FTE for a standard 5-day week, and you work 3 days, your actual salary is £35,000 × (3 ÷ 5) = £21,000 a year. **FTE vs actual salary confusion** Job adverts for part-time roles are sometimes ambiguous about whether the headline salary figure is the Full-Time Equivalent (before pro-rating) or the actual amount you would be paid for the part-time hours -- always clarify this explicitly before accepting an offer, since the difference can be substantial and is a common source of misunderstanding during recruitment. **Calculating based on hours rather than days** For roles with variable daily hours (rather than simple whole/half days), pro-rating is often based on total weekly hours rather than days -- for example, working 22.5 hours a week on a role with a standard 37.5-hour full-time week would be pro-rated at 22.5 ÷ 37.5 = 60% of the FTE salary. **Pro-rata applies to more than just salary** Benefits like holiday entitlement (calculated as 5.6 weeks pro-rated to your working pattern), pension contributions (typically a percentage of your actual, already-pro-rated salary), and sometimes bonus schemes are also pro-rated in the same proportion as your salary, ensuring overall proportional fairness compared with full-time colleagues. **Worked example** A role is advertised at £45,000 FTE for a standard 37.5-hour week, and you are offered 22.5 hours a week (3 days). Your actual salary: £45,000 × (22.5 ÷ 37.5) = £27,000 a year. Your holiday entitlement is also pro-rated: 5.6 weeks × (22.5/37.5 as a proportion of a full week) applied to your specific working pattern. **Comparing pro-rata offers across different working patterns** When comparing two part-time offers with different hours, always convert back to the FTE-equivalent figure (or to an hourly rate) to make a fair comparison -- a £25,000 role for 3 days a week and a £30,000 role for 4 days a week might actually represent very similar hourly value once properly compared on a like-for-like basis. **Practical tip** Always ask explicitly whether a quoted salary is the Full-Time Equivalent or the actual pro-rata amount you would receive, and calculate the equivalent hourly rate for any part-time offer to make accurate comparisons -- this is one of the most common points of confusion in part-time job negotiations.