What you pay on top of salary
- Employer National Insurance — 15% of earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold. For a £30,000 salary that's £3,750 before any allowance.
- Auto-enrolment pension — you must contribute at least 3% of qualifying earnings (£6,240–£50,270) for eligible staff.
- The Employment Allowance — employers can claim up to £10,500 a year off employer National Insurance, which can cover all of it on the first few hires. A company cannot claim it if a director is its only employee paid above £5,000 a year.
Costs this calculator leaves out The calculator leaves out recruitment, a laptop, software licences, extra insurance, training and the time it takes to manage someone. Put the full cost into your cashflow forecast from the start date before you make the offer.
Making the first hire
Before the first payday you need to register as an employer for PAYE, set up auto-enrolment, check the employee's right to work and issue a written statement of employment particulars. We run payroll and can set all of this up. Payroll is part of our instant quote, which asks how many people you pay and how often.
