Employee Cost Calculator
What an employee really costs: salary, employer taxes, benefits and overheads.
Where the money goes
- Salary
- Employer taxes and contributions
- Benefits
- Overheads
Breakdown
How this was calculated
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
About the Employee Cost Calculator
A salary is only part of what an employee costs. This calculator adds the employer’s statutory costs — provident fund, ESI, gratuity and bonus in India; social security, Medicare and unemployment taxes in the US; National Insurance and pension contributions in the UK — and the costs that come with any hire: benefits, equipment, office and software, recruiting and training. It gives the yearly, monthly and hourly cost and the cost-to-salary multiplier.
The country presets were checked against official sources and every rate is editable, so you can update them or enter the rules of another country. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
How to use it
- Choose the country. India, the US and the UK fill in their employer rates; “Another country” lets you enter your own.
- Enter the gross salary — the pay before the employee’s own deductions — a year or a month, and the hours worked.
- Check the employer taxes and contributions: for India, the share of salary that is basic + DA and the PF, ESI, gratuity and bonus options; for the US, the state unemployment rate; for the UK, any relief or allowance.
- Add benefits and overheads: health insurance, equipment and how many years it lasts, office and software a month, recruiting cost and how long you expect the hire to stay, training.
- Read the total cost, the breakdown and the multiplier. Copy the summary or download a CSV.
Examples
Employer PF ₹36,000 · EDLI ₹1,500 · admin ₹1,500 · gratuity provision ₹14,423.08 No ESI (pay above ₹21,000 a month) · no statutory bonus (wages above ₹21,000) Total ₹6,53,423.08 a year — 1.089 × salary
PF ₹14,400 + EDLI ₹600 + admin ₹600 + ESI ₹7,800 + gratuity ₹5,769.23 + bonus ₹7,000 = ₹36,169.23 a year on top of ₹2,40,000
Basic + DA is half the pay (₹10,000 a month), so the bonus is 8⅓% of the ₹7,000 ceiling × 12.
Social security $4,340 · Medicare $1,015 · FUTA $42 → $75,397 before SUTA, benefits and overheads
Employer NIC £5,250 (15% above £5,000) · pension £1,012.80 (3% of £33,760) → £46,262.80
India: PF, ESI, gratuity and bonus
- Provident fund: the employer pays 12% of EPF wages — 8.33% of wages up to the ₹25,000 ceiling to the pension scheme (EPS) and the rest to EPF — plus EDLI insurance (0.5% of wages up to the ceiling) and admin charges (0.5% of EPF wages, at least ₹500 a month for the establishment). EPF wages are basic + DA (with the Labour Codes’ 50% rule); the ceiling is ₹25,000 (S.O. 5109(E)). The PF & ESI calculator works out PF wages from the pay components.
- ESI: 3.25% of the month’s wages, rounded up to the rupee (Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, rule 19), when wages are within the ESI ceiling — ₹21,000 a month on ESIC’s coverage page.
- Gratuity: 15 days’ wages for each year of service, worked out as monthly wages ÷ 26 × 15 (Code on Social Security, 2020, s.53). Setting that aside every year is a provision of 15 ÷ 26 ÷ 12 = 4.81% of yearly basic + DA. It is paid after five years’ continuous service, or sooner on death, disablement or the end of a fixed-term contract.
- Statutory bonus: at least 8⅓% of wages a year — the Code says “eight and one-third per cent.”, exactly a twelfth, slightly more than the old Act’s 8.33% — for employees whose wages are up to ₹21,000 a month, worked out on wages up to ₹7,000 a month (or the minimum wage if higher) — Code on Wages, 2019, s.26, with the Payment of Bonus Act amounts carried over until new ones are notified (s.69(2)). Up to 20% where the employer’s surplus allows; the statutory bonus calculator works out a part year and the minimum wage.
Enter the gross salary, not a CTC that already includes the employer’s PF and gratuity — otherwise they would be counted twice.
United States: FICA, FUTA and SUTA
IRS Publication 15 (2026): the employer pays social security tax of 6.2% on wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, and Medicare tax of 1.45% on all wages; the employee pays the same amounts out of their pay, which is not an employer cost. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax has no employer match (IRS Topic no. 560).
FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 paid to each employee in a year; employers who pay their state unemployment tax in full and on time get a credit of up to 5.4%, so the usual rate is 0.6% — $42 a year per employee — unless the state is a credit reduction state (IRS Topic no. 759). SUTA rates and wage bases are set by each state, and a new employer is assigned one: enter yours. Workers’ compensation insurance and a 401(k) match can go in “Other employer contributions”.
United Kingdom: National Insurance, pension and the levy
HMRC’s rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027: employer Class 1 NIC is 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 a year (£417 a month). For employees under 21, apprentices under 25 and eligible veterans, employer NIC is 0% up to £50,270 a year. The Employment Allowance of up to £10,500 a year reduces an eligible employer’s total NIC bill — it is per employer, so enter only the part you set against this employee. The Apprenticeship Levy is 0.5% of the pay bill, less a £15,000 allowance, so only employers with a pay bill over £3 million pay it.
Workplace pension: under automatic enrolment the employer pays at least 3% of qualifying earnings — earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year (GOV.UK, Workplace pensions). Automatic enrolment is for workers aged 22 to State Pension age earning at least £10,000 a year; others can choose to join. If your scheme pays on all pay, or more than 3%, change the basis and the rate.
Overheads, the hourly cost and the multiplier
One-off costs are spread over the years they cover: a ₹60,000 laptop expected to last three years adds ₹20,000 a year; a recruiting fee is spread over the years you expect the hire to stay. Office space, software licences and other running costs are entered a month.
The hourly cost divides the yearly cost by the hours paid (hours a week × 52). Enter the paid holidays and leave to see the cost per hour actually worked. The multiplier — total cost ÷ salary — is what to multiply a salary by to budget for a hire, or to compare hiring with a contractor’s rate (see the freelance rate calculator).
Sources
- India: S.O. 5109(E) (EPF wage ceiling ₹25,000); EPFO’s wage-ceiling FAQs (EPF, EPS, EDLI and admin rates); Code on Social Security, 2020, s.53 (gratuity, 15 ÷ 26); the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, rule 19 and ESIC’s coverage page (ESI); Code on Wages, 2019, s.26 and s.69 (bonus)
- US: IRS Publication 15 (2026) (social security and Medicare); IRS Topic no. 759 (FUTA); IRS Topic no. 560 (Additional Medicare Tax)
- UK: HMRC, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027; GOV.UK, what you and your employer pay and joining a workplace pension
Limitations
- One employee on a steady salary. Bonuses, overtime and pay rises during the year are not modelled.
- Employer costs only — the employee’s own tax and contributions are not deducted.
- India: the employer’s share of a state labour welfare fund and other state levies are not included; add them in “Other employer contributions”. Professional tax is deducted from the employee’s pay, so it is not an employer cost. US: state and local payroll taxes other than SUTA, and workers’ compensation, depend on the state.
- The presets come from IRS Publication 15 (2026), HMRC’s rates and thresholds for 2026 to 2027, S.O. 5109(E), EPFO’s FAQs and the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026. Rates change — check them before relying on the result; the sources are listed above.
- An estimate for budgeting, not tax or payroll advice.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an employee cost on top of salary?
It depends on the country and the benefits. With the presets and no benefits or overheads, ₹6,00,000 in India costs about 9% more, $70,000 in the US about 7.7% more before state unemployment tax, and £40,000 in the UK about 15.7% more. Benefits, equipment, office space and recruiting add more — enter yours to see your multiplier.
Is employer PF part of CTC?
Many Indian employers include the employer’s PF and gratuity in the cost to company (CTC). Here they are added to the gross salary, so enter the gross pay, not a CTC that already contains them.
What employer taxes are there in the US?
Social security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026), Medicare (1.45% of all wages), federal unemployment tax (6.0% of the first $7,000, usually 0.6% after the state credit) and state unemployment tax at your state rate.
How much is employer National Insurance in 2026–27?
15% of earnings above £5,000 a year (£96 a week, £417 a month), with 0% up to £50,270 for employees under 21, apprentices under 25 and eligible veterans. The Employment Allowance can reduce the employer’s total bill by up to £10,500.
Why is gratuity 4.81%?
Gratuity is 15 days’ wages for each year of service, with a day’s wage being a 26th of the monthly wage. 15 ÷ 26 of a month’s wages each year is 15 ÷ 26 ÷ 12 = 4.81% of the year’s wages.