This page is for people searching cost of employing someone or how much does it cost to employ someone in the UK. Pick a salary to see the baseline employer cost with employer NI and minimum pension, then move to the full employer cost calculator if you need overheads or Employment Allowance.
Formula: salary + (salary − £5,000) × 15% NI + (qualifying earnings) × 3% pension. No overheads or Employment Allowance applied above.
| Salary | Employer NI | Pension (3%) | Total cost | % above salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £2,250 | £413 | £22,663 | +13.3% |
| £25,000 | £3,000 | £563 | £28,563 | +14.3% |
| £30,000 | £3,750 | £713 | £34,463 | +14.9% |
| £35,000 | £4,500 | £863 | £40,363 | +15.3% |
| £40,000 | £5,250 | £1,013 | £46,263 | +15.7% |
| £50,000 | £6,750 | £1,313 | £58,063 | +16.1% |
| £60,000 | £8,250 | £1,321 | £69,571 | +16.0% |
| £75,000 | £10,500 | £1,321 | £86,821 | +15.8% |
| £100,000 | £14,250 | £1,321 | £115,571 | +15.6% |
Employer NI: 15% above £5,000. Pension: 3% of qualifying earnings (£6,240–£50,270). No Employment Allowance applied.
A £30,000 salary costs considerably more than £30,000 to a UK employer in 2026/27.
| Cost component | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £30,000 | £2,500 |
| Employer NI (15% × £25,000) | £3,750 | £313 |
| Pension (3% × £23,760 qualifying) | £713 | £59 |
| Total employer cost | £34,463 | £2,872 |
NI: 15% above £5,000 threshold (£30,000 − £5,000 = £25,000 × 15%). Pension: qualifying earnings £6,240–£30,000 = £23,760 × 3%. No Employment Allowance or overheads.
Open a salary page to get baseline statutory employer cost.
Check each component separately before looking at the all-in total.
Add overheads and allowance to convert baseline into hiring budget reality.
Need a salary not listed? Use the full employer cost calculator for any amount. Want NI only? Go to employer NI by salary. Planning a whole team? Use the payroll planner.
Best if you want a fast answer for a specific salary such as £30,000, £35,000 or £50,000.
Best if you need custom pension, overheads, hourly pay or Employment Allowance assumptions.
Best if your query is specifically about employer NI rather than total salary cost to employer.
For ranking pages to be useful, they need to answer the decision question, not just the formula. Use this framework when reviewing offers or headcount requests: baseline statutory cost first, then realistic overhead assumptions, then allowance eligibility.
Calculate salary + employer NI + minimum pension. This is the minimum compliant recurring cost before local policy or benefits.
Layer software, equipment, training and workspace. This is where “£35k salary” often becomes £43k+ total employer spend.
Compare against 2024/25 assumptions to quantify budget drift caused by the April 2025 NI rate and threshold changes.
Apply Employment Allowance where eligible. For smaller employers this can materially reduce the net NI increase.
Total employer cost = salary + employer NI + employer pension. Employer NI is 15% of earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold. Employer pension is 3% of qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 under auto-enrolment rules. No upper earnings limit applies to employer NI.
The employer NI rate rose from 13.8% to 15% and the secondary threshold dropped from £9,100 to £5,000 — adding up to £1,500 per employee per year for many employers. Employment Allowance rose from £5,000 to £10,500 (with the £100,000 eligibility cap removed) to partially offset costs for eligible small employers.
Eligible employers can claim up to £10,500 off their employer NI bill per year (2026/27). Most limited companies with at least one employee who is not a sole director qualify. This effectively reduces employer NI to zero for smaller employers up to a certain payroll size.
Beyond NI and pension, real employer costs include recruitment (typically £2,000–£5,000 per hire), training, equipment, workspace, and benefits such as health insurance or enhanced pension. The full calculator focuses on the statutory minimums — the guaranteed floor of what each employee costs.
Want the employee's take-home view? AfterTaxSalary.co.uk calculates net pay after income tax and employee NI for any UK salary.