The cost of employing someone
Take-home calculators show what the employee keeps. This is the other side: on top of every salary the employer pays 15% National Insurance on earnings above £5,000 and at least a 3% pension, typically adding 15-18% to the wage bill before a single overhead.
3% is the auto-enrolment minimum
A £35,000 salary actually costs the employer
£40,550.00 a year
15.9% on top of the salary, before recruitment, equipment, training or office costs.
The statutory add-ons
| Gross salary | £35,000.00 |
| Employer National Insurance (15% above £5,000) | £4,500.00 |
| Employer pension (3%) | £1,050.00 |
| Total employment cost | £40,550.00 |
The Employment Allowance lets most small employers knock up to £10,500 off their total employer NI bill, one allowance per business, not per employee. The 0.5% apprenticeship levy applies only to employers with a pay bill over £3m, so it is excluded here. The employee's own take-home from this salary is on the main calculator.
Why this number explains so much
The gap between what employment costs and what employees receive is the quiet force behind several things this site covers: it is why umbrella contractors see employer NI carved out of their day rate, why salary sacrifice appeals to employers as well as staff (they save their 15% too, and good schemes share it), and why the April 2025 rise in employer NI was widely reported to feed through to hiring decisions and pay settlements rather than appearing on any payslip. If you are choosing between a salary and a day rate, or negotiating a package, knowing the employer's true number tells you how much room the other side actually has.
Figures checked 2026-08-28 against HMRC's employer rates and thresholds. Employment Allowance eligibility has conditions (broadly, employers whose NI liability is under the published limit), check them before relying on it.