Reviewed by Mustafa Bilgic
Founder, WebCalculator
Employer NI rates and thresholds from HMRC and GOV.UK for 2026/27. Auto-enrolment minimums from The Pensions Regulator. Estimates only — not financial advice.
The salary you pay an employee is not the full cost. On top of wages, UK employers must pay Class 1 National Insurance at 15% on earnings above £5,000 and at least 3% auto-enrolment pension on qualifying earnings. Enter a salary below to see the total cost to your business in the 2026/27 tax year.
Salary + employer NI + pension
When you budget for a new hire, the headline salary is only the starting point. Two statutory costs sit on top of every employee's pay:
Since April 2025 employers pay Class 1 secondary NI at 15% on all earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 per year. Unlike employee NI there is no upper limit — the 15% rate applies without cap. On a £30,000 salary that means:
Under auto-enrolment, employers must contribute at least 3% of qualifying earnings — the band between £6,240 and £50,270 in 2026/27. On a £30,000 salary:
Many employers contribute more than the 3% minimum or calculate on total pay rather than qualifying earnings. Adjust the percentage in the calculator to match your scheme.
| Salary | Employer NI | Pension (3%) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £2,250 | £412.80 | £22,662.80 |
| £25,000 | £3,000 | £562.80 | £28,562.80 |
| £30,000 | £3,750 | £712.80 | £34,462.80 |
| £40,000 | £5,250 | £1,012.80 | £46,262.80 |
| £50,000 | £6,750 | £1,320.90 | £58,070.90 |
Eligible employers can claim the Employment Allowance of up to £10,500 in 2026/27 to offset their employer NI bill. To qualify, your total employer NI in the previous year must have been under £100,000 and you must not be a single-director company with no other employees. The allowance reduces — or in many small-business cases eliminates — the NI cost shown above. For details see GOV.UK Employment Allowance.
To see how much the employee takes home from the same salary, use the salary calculator. If you are weighing a pay rise, the pay rise calculator shows the employee's net gain, while the NI calculator breaks down the employee side.
An employee on a £30,000 salary costs roughly £34,200 in total. That includes £3,750 in employer NI (15% on earnings above £5,000) and around £450 in minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions (3% of qualifying earnings), on top of the salary itself.
Employers pay Class 1 NI at 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 per year. There is no upper limit — unlike employee NI, the 15% rate applies to all earnings above £5,000.
Yes. Under auto-enrolment, employers must contribute at least 3% of qualifying earnings (between £6,240 and £50,270 in 2026/27) into a workplace pension for eligible employees.
The Employment Allowance lets eligible employers reduce their employer NI bill by up to £10,500 in 2026/27. It is available to businesses with total employer NI under £100,000 in the previous year. Single-director companies with no other employees cannot claim.
On a £50,000 salary the employer NI is £6,750 — calculated as (£50,000 − £5,000) x 15%. Add 3% auto-enrolment pension on qualifying earnings (roughly £1,321) and the total employer cost is approximately £58,071.