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.
Calculator
Employers NI calculator
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 by Hadi 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.
How to use the employers NI calculator
- 1
Enter the salary you plan to pay.
- 2
Add pension contributions and any benefits the role carries.
- 3
Read the employer National Insurance due above the secondary threshold.
- 4
See the total cost of employment, which is what the role actually costs the business.
When should you use the employers NI calculator?
Use it when hiring or budgeting, since employer National Insurance and pension sit on top of the salary you advertise.
You are hiring
The salary is only part of the cost. Employer NI and pension sit on top of it.
Budgeting for a team
Total employment cost is the figure a budget needs, not the salary line.
Negotiating your own salary
Knowing the full cost of you explains the number your employer is working to.
Contractor against permanent hire
A day rate looks expensive until it is set against the loaded cost of a permanent hire.
Where to go next
- National Insurance calculatorTo the employee side of the same contribution.Open
- Contract vs permanent calculatorTo compare the two ways of filling a role.Open
- Umbrella company calculatorTo where employer NI lands in a contract rate.Open
All 51 calculators share one tested engine, so a figure from the employers ni calculator agrees with every other page here. See the full calculator index or the pay and tax guides.