Free tool
Employee Cost Calculator UK: True Cost and Staff Time
This free employee cost calculator works out what an employee really costs you each year, and what a repeat task costs per hour. Then it shows what handing part of that task to AI could give back, in hours and pounds. The result appears straight away. You do not need to give an email address.
- Free
- No email needed
How we work this out
Employment cost of a role = salary + employer National Insurance + employer pension + overheads.
Employer National Insurance is 15% of salary above £5,000 a year (2026 to 2027 rate, GOV.UK). Employer pension is your percentage of earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. Overheads are your percentage of salary.
Productive hours a year = (contracted hours × 52, minus holiday and sick days at the daily hours) × productive share. Cost per productive hour = employment cost ÷ productive hours.
Time handed back = hours a week on the task × the repeatable share. The cautious case uses the low end of the range, the expected case uses the middle. Weeks worked a year = 52 minus holiday and sick days ÷ 5.
Value = hours handed back × cost per productive hour of that role. Payback = project cost ÷ yearly value × 12 months.
The repeatable shares are our planning assumptions for each type of task, not measured statistics. Change them to match what your team really does. The rates are checked against GOV.UK each April.
Example: a £28,000 role with employer National Insurance of 15% above £5,000, a 3% pension and 20% overheads costs about £37,700 a year.
Employee cost calculator
How does the employee cost calculator work?
There are two steps. You can use the first without the second.
Step one: the true cost of a role
Enter the salary and the usual extras. You get the yearly cost and the cost per productive hour.
Step two: the value of a task
Pick a task, say how many hours a week it takes and how many people do it. The calculator estimates how much of it is repeatable, and what handing that back is worth.
You can add several roles and tasks, then see a team summary.
What are the assumptions behind the number?
We show the method under every result.
True yearly cost = salary + employer National Insurance + employer pension + holiday and sickness cover + your overhead share.
Cost per productive hour = true yearly cost ÷ the hours a person really works on tasks in a year.
Hours handed back = hours a week × share that is repeatable.
Value of hours = hours handed back × cost per productive hour.
The share that is repeatable comes from preset ranges for each type of task. Data entry and booking are high. Advice and judgement are low. You can change it. We show a cautious case and an expected case, so you see a range.
Tax rates are kept in one place and labelled with the tax year. We check them against GOV.UK every April. The result shows which year it used.
Payback compares the saving with the cost of a project. The HAeX AI Booster starts from £3,500 for a team of up to 10 people. Other work is scoped on a call, so you can enter your own project cost.
What do I get to keep?
A role by role report, a team summary and a CSV you can open in Excel. You can see it on screen or ask for it by email.
Common questions
What does an employee cost beyond salary?
Employer National Insurance, employer pension contributions, paid holiday and the overheads that come with a desk and equipment. The calculator adds these for you.
Is the saving guaranteed?
No. It is an estimate based on your own inputs and a stated share of repeatable work. We only quote measured hours back from real projects once we have them.
Does AI mean fewer staff?
That is not the aim. The hours handed back go to work that needs a person.
Can I use it for one person?
Yes. Add one role and one task.
Which tasks suit automation?
Tasks that follow a rule, repeat often and use data in a system we can reach. Try the Workflow Automation Map to check one.
Privacy
We use your answers to work out your result. We save them without your name or email, so we can see how the tool is used. If you ask for the report, we keep your email and results for up to 12 months and then delete them. You can delete your report yourself. Read our privacy policy.
What next?
If the numbers show hours worth getting back, we can look at where they go. Bring your report to a call.
Bring your report to a call
The first call is free. We look at where the hours go and what is worth getting back.