Employee Cost Calculator
Work out what an employee actually costs once employer taxes, pension and overheads are added.
Every figure below is labelled in the currency you pick. Amounts are not converted — enter your own figures in that currency. To convert an amount at today’s rate, use the currency calculator.
What this page needs from you
This page asks for gross salary, employer tax as a percentage, pension contribution as a percentage and other costs. From those it returns true annual cost in $, together with employer tax, pension cost, on-cost percentage and cost per working hour. Every figure updates as you type, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Gross, net and the gap between them
Gross pay is the figure in your contract. Net pay is what arrives after income tax, payroll contributions and any deductions your employer takes at source. The gap is commonly 20 to 35% for an employee, and larger for the self-employed, who pay both halves of the payroll contribution that an employer would otherwise split.
Hours are decimals, not clock time
One hour and thirty minutes is 1.5 payroll hours, not 1.30. Entering the clock reading understates the shift by twelve minutes, and a 45-minute unpaid break is 0.75 rather than 0.45. This single confusion is the most common error in manual timesheets.
The formula
Cost = salary × (1 + employer tax% + pension%) + other costs
Every result on this page comes from this formula. Nothing is rounded until the final display, so figures match a spreadsheet to the cent.
How to use the Employee Cost Calculator
- Fill in each field with your own figures — the defaults are only there as an example.
- The result updates as you type, so there is no button to press.
- Check the breakdown under the main result for the supporting numbers.
- Use the copy button to take the result with you, or share the link to reload the same inputs.
Employee Cost Calculator — frequently asked questions
Is this employee cost calculator free to use?
Yes. Every calculator on the site is free, needs no sign-up, and runs entirely in your browser, so your figures never leave your device.
How accurate is the result?
The maths is exact for the formula shown on the page. Accuracy in the real world depends on your inputs and on assumptions the formula cannot see, so treat the output as a well-grounded estimate rather than a quote.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. The page is responsive, weighs a few kilobytes and works offline once loaded, so it behaves the same on a phone as on a desktop.
What people search for
This page answers each of these searches. They are the exact phrases visitors use to find the employee cost calculator.
- employee cost calculator
- employment cost calculator
- cost per hire
- employer on costs
- true cost of an employee
About this calculator
Written and reviewed by The Samsung Calculator editorial team. Every calculator is written against a published formula, reviewed against at least one independent reference implementation, and dated when it changes.
Last reviewed September 14, 2026 · Calculation runs client-side · No data collected · Report an error