United Kingdom: what an employee costs an employer
Gross salary is what the employee sees. This is what leaves the company: the statutory contributions the employer pays on top, the hours a year they are spread over, and what one hour of ten different roles actually costs.
Gross salary × 1.19. Statutory employer contributions add 18.5% on top of gross pay, over 1,740 working hours a year.
What is added to gross salary
Known locally as employer's on-costs.
| Contribution | Covers | Employer rate |
|---|---|---|
| Employer's National Insurance (secondary Class 1) up to a ceiling | Payroll tax | 15% |
| Workplace pension (auto-enrolment) up to a ceiling | Pension | 3% |
| Apprenticeship Levy varies by region or sector | Training levy | 0.5% |
| Total | ×1.19 | 18.5% |
37.5 h a week × 52 − (20 vacation days + 8 public holidays) = 1,740 h a year.
That is the statutory cost and nothing else. Equipment, software, workspace and voluntary benefits sit on top of it, which is why the calculators default to ×1.3 rather than to this figure — a number you can defend line by line is worth more than a rounder one.
Employer cost per hour, by role
| Role | Gross salary | Employer cost / year | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | £57,000 | £67,550 | £38.82 |
| Senior software engineer | £76,000 | £90,060 | £51.76 |
| Product manager | £63,000 | £74,660 | £42.91 |
| Product designer | £46,000 | £54,510 | £31.33 |
| Marketing manager | £44,500 | £52,730 | £30.31 |
| Sales / account executive | £39,000 | £46,220 | £26.56 |
| Customer support | £25,500 | £30,220 | £17.37 |
| Data analyst | £37,500 | £44,440 | £25.54 |
| Engineering manager | £96,000 | £113,800 | £65.38 |
| Office / admin assistant | £25,500 | £30,220 | £17.37 |
Compared with its neighbours
| Country | Multiplier | Hours / year | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | ×1.19 | 1,740 | £38.82 |
| Germany | ×1.24 | 1,760 | €40.85 |
| Poland | ×1.22 | 1,768 | PLN 106 |
| India | ×1.21 | 1,864 | ₹526 |
Each figure is in that country's own currency, at that country's own multiplier and working year. There is no exchange rate in this table — the multiplier and the hours are what compare directly.
Run it with your own numbers
The meeting, switching and downtime calculators all price an hour of someone's time. This one opens with the multiplier and the working year already filled in: United Kingdom.
Sources
Checked 2026-08