Employer cost calculator UK (2026/27)

The true cost to employ someone in the UK is typically 15–20% above gross salary. At £30,000: employer NI £3,750 + pension £713 = approximately £34,463 per year. At £50,000: employer NI £6,750 + pension £1,313 = approximately £58,063 per year. Adding workplace overheads of £2,000–£5,000 can bring the total to 20–25% above the headline salary.

For 2026/27, employer Class 1 National Insurance is charged at 15% on employee earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 per year (£96 per week, £417 per month). This rate increased from 13.8% in April 2025, when the threshold was simultaneously cut from £9,100 to £5,000. Both changes apply from 6 April 2025.

At £35,000 salary, employer NI for 2026/27 is £4,500 per year — 15% on £30,000 of earnings above the £5,000 threshold. That is £375 per month. In 2024/25 (13.8% above £9,100), the same salary produced £3,574 in employer NI. The April 2025 changes therefore add £926 per year on this salary alone.

Employment Allowance lets eligible employers reduce their annual employer NI bill by up to £10,500 in 2026/27, increased from £5,000 in 2024/25. The previous NI-bill eligibility cap has been removed, so more businesses qualify. Companies where the only paid employee is also a director cannot claim. Apply through payroll software via the Employer Payment Summary indicator.

Beyond salary, employer cost includes: employer NI (15% on earnings above £5,000), employer pension (minimum 3% of qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270), and overheads such as equipment, software and workspace. For most UK salaries this adds 12–20% above headline pay. Use the inputs above to set your exact pension rate and overhead figure.

Three changes took effect from 6 April 2025: the employer NI rate rose from 13.8% to 15%, the secondary threshold was cut from £9,100 to £5,000, and Employment Allowance increased from £5,000 to £10,500 with the eligibility cap removed. For a £30,000 salary, annual employer NI increased from approximately £2,884 to £3,750 — a rise of £866 per year.

Employer NI is a cost paid by the employer on top of gross salary — it does not reduce take-home pay. Employee NI is deducted from the employee's wages instead. For 2026/27, employees pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above that. Employers pay 15% on all earnings above £5,000 with no upper cap. This calculator covers the employer side; for employee take-home pay see AfterTaxSalary.co.uk.

UK employer costs in 2026/27 are: gross salary, employer NI at 15% on earnings above £5,000, employer pension at minimum 3% of qualifying earnings (£6,240–£50,270), and any operational overheads such as equipment or software. For a £35,000 salary, statutory employer costs (NI + pension) add approximately £5,363/year before overheads.

If you earn £35,000, you cost your employer roughly £40,363/year — your salary plus £4,500 employer NI and £863 minimum pension. At £50,000, the total is approximately £58,063. Your employer pays these on top of your salary; they are not deducted from your pay. Use this calculator to see the exact figure for your salary.

Yes. PAYE employer costs include employer NI — calculated at 15% above £5,000 for 2026/27 — plus the employer's auto-enrolment pension contribution. The full calculator models both alongside any overhead assumptions to give a total PAYE-basis employer spend per employee.

Cost to company (CTC) in the UK refers to the total annual cost of an employee to their employer — salary, employer NI, pension, and overheads combined. A £35,000 CTC salary typically means a gross salary of roughly £30,000–£32,000 once the employer's NI and pension obligations are included in the total. Use this calculator to work backwards from a CTC budget to a gross salary.

Yes. This is an employer total cost calculator UK tool for 2026/27. It combines gross salary, employer NI, auto-enrolment pension and optional overheads into one annual and monthly employer cost output.

Yes. Use this page as a total cost to employer calculator UK workflow: enter salary, choose pension rate, add overheads, and apply Employment Allowance if eligible to see net employer NI and full cost.

Yes. It works as an NI change calculator because it uses 2026/27 rules (15% above £5,000) and shows a comparison against 2024/25 assumptions so you can quantify the April 2025 employer NI change.

This calculator includes baseline auto enrolment payroll costs via employer pension on qualifying earnings. For pension-only scenarios, use the dedicated page at /pension-cost.

Yes. This page is an employer NI calculator 2026/27 tool and applies the current-year employer NI rate and threshold to your salary input, with monthly and annual outputs.