For 2026/27, total employer cost combines salary, employer NI at 15% above £5,000, and minimum employer pension at 3% of qualifying earnings. Select a salary for full annual and monthly totals.
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.
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. Also see employer NI by salary for NI-only breakdowns.
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.