Employee True Cost Calculator for Trades
This employee true cost calculator shows what a worker really costs — employer National Insurance, pension and on-costs added, the days and hours they can't charge taken out, and the one number that decides your pricing: the true cost per chargeable hour.
Pay
Employer on-costs (£/year)
Time & utilisation
True cost per chargeable hour
£27.18/ chargeable hr
This is your cost floor — set a charge-out rate above it to make a margin.
UK 2026/27 defaults (employer NI 15% over £5,000; pension 3% on £6,240–£50,270), all editable. Employment Allowance (£10,500/yr, business-level) not netted off. Estimate only — check current HMRC rates.
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Leave an honest Google reviewReviews are optional. Please only review based on your genuine experience.What the true cost of an employee actually includes
A £32,000 tradesperson does not cost £32,000 — the wage is only the part you see on the payslip.
On 2026/27 rates you also pay employer National Insurance of about £4,050 and an auto-enrolment pension of about £770, plus the on-costs a trade job needs: PPE, tools, a phone, training and often a share of a van.
This calculator brings those costs together, before you count a single non-productive hour.
One employee. One true cost.
How the true cost adds up
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Start with the gross pay
Enter the employee’s gross annual salary — the figure before tax and National Insurance. The calculator works in pounds on UK 2026/27 rates.
Add the employer costs
Employer National Insurance, the workplace pension, and the on-costs a trade job needs: PPE, tools, a phone, training and a share of the van.
Take out non-chargeable time
What you’re really paying for
The salary is only the visible part. These are the costs that turn a wage into the true cost of employing someone.
The number most calculators miss
You do not invoice a year — you invoice hours.
Take out holiday, sick and training days, then the travel, yard and admin time that never goes on a customer’s bill, and the true cost is spread across far fewer hours than the salary suggests.
Example: a £32,000 employee costing about £38,600 a year, with roughly 222 productive days at 80% billable, works out at about £27 for every hour you can actually charge. That is your cost floor.
Count every on-cost, not just the wage
PPE, workwear, tools, a phone, training and often a share of a van are real costs of employing a tradesperson. Add the ones that apply and they go straight into the true cost.
Use the Material Markup & Margin Calculator
Cost is not the same as your charge-out rate
Your cost is what the employee costs you. Your charge-out rate is what you bill. For a £32,000 employee:
Work out the cost floor here, then set your charge-out rate above it.
True cost
About £38,600 a year, or roughly £27 for every chargeable hour once non-productive time is out.
Charge-out rate
Must sit above £27 an hour to cover overheads and leave a profit. The gap between the two is your margin.
A clear cost breakdown
See the total annual cost, the cost per chargeable hour, and how much the on-costs add on top of the salary — so nothing is hidden.
Who is this calculator for?
Owners costing a hire before they take someone on
Small and growing trade businesses pricing work against real labour cost
Electricians, plumbers, builders, HVAC, landscaping and maintenance
It is a costing and pricing aid — not payroll software, a personal take-home-pay calculator, or a CIS or tax-rebate tool.
From the rate to the quote, in one place
FieldHive keeps your customers, reusable pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices connected — so the charge-out rate you set here is reused on every job instead of being rebuilt from memory.
Build the supporting figures
Use these alongside the employee true cost calculator.
Site Labour Uplift Calculator
Adjust labour time for access, restrictions, interruptions and reduced productivity.
Review the site uplift →Material Markup & Margin Calculator
Build the true cost of materials and the selling price.
Price materials →Employee cost, answered
Quick answers to the questions people ask most.
Know what your people cost, then price above it
Work out the true cost per chargeable hour, then set a charge-out rate above it. FieldHive keeps your pricing, quotes and invoices connected as the business grows.
