> The full cost of employing someone in the UK for 2026/27: salary, employer NI at 15% above £5,000, the pension minimum, benefits and the levy, with a worked example from the API.

Web version: https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/guides/employer-cost · Last updated: 2026-10-09

# What an employee really costs in 2026/27

Salary is the start: employer’s National Insurance, the workplace pension and a few smaller costs come on top. Here is each for 2026/27, with a worked example.

## The short answer

A £40,000 salary in England costs its employer **£46,262.20** a year in 2026-27: the pay, £5,249.40 of employer's National Insurance and £1,012.80 into the workplace pension at the auto-enrolment minimum. That is 15.7% on top of the salary.

## What goes into it

| Cost | 2026-27 |
| --- | --- |
| Pay | The salary, before the employee’s own tax, NI and pension come off it. |
| Employer’s NI | 15% of pay above the secondary threshold, £5,000 a year, worked out each pay period. No upper limit. |
| Employment Allowance | Up to £10,500 a year off the employer’s NI, for employers who qualify (not a company whose only employee paid above the threshold is a director). |
| Workplace pension | At least 3% of qualifying earnings, the pay between £520 and £4,189 a month. Many schemes pay more, or on all pay. |
| Benefits in kind | Class 1A NI at 15% of their taxable value (a company car, health cover). |
| Apprenticeship Levy | For employers whose pay bill is over £3 million: 0.5% of the whole pay bill, less a £15,000 allowance. |

## A worked example: £40,000 in England

|  | A year |
| --- | --- |
| Salary | £40,000 |
| Employer’s NI | £5,249.40 |
| Employer pension (auto-enrolment minimum) | £1,012.80 |
| Benefits in kind and Class 1A NI | £0 |
| Apprenticeship Levy | £0 |
| **Total cost** | **£46,262.20** |
| The employee takes home | £32,322.04 |

NI and the pension are worked out on each month’s pay, as payroll does, so the year is twelve monthly figures added up, not one sum on the salary.

## Working it out with the API

One call gives the employer’s whole cost and the employee’s pay from the same salary, for any region, pay frequency, pension or benefit. The [employer cost reference](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs/api/employer-cost) has every field.

`POST /v1/employer-cost`

cURL

```
curl https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/employer-cost \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "gross": {
    "amount": 40000,
    "per": "year"
  },
  "region": "england",
  "employer_pension": "auto_enrolment_minimum"
}'
```

Node.js

```
const response = await fetch('https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/employer-cost', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "gross": {
      "amount": 40000,
      "per": "year"
    },
    "region": "england",
    "employer_pension": "auto_enrolment_minimum"
  }),
});
const result = await response.json();
```

Python

```
import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/employer-cost",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "gross": {"amount": 40000, "per": "year"},
        "region": "england",
        "employer_pension": "auto_enrolment_minimum",
    },
)
result = response.json()
```

## Get an API key

Free for 100 calculations a month, with every endpoint.

[Get an API key](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/login)[Read the quickstart](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs/quickstart)