The difference between gross salary and what a hire actually costs your business is one of the most consistently underestimated numbers in global expansion planning. The Fully-Burdened Employer Cost Calculator combines statutory on-costs with your EOR provider fee to give the true all-in figure. Below are two worked scenarios using 2026 statutory rates.
What Does “Fully Burdened” Cost Mean?
A fully-burdened cost model has three layers:
- Gross salary: what the employee sees on their contract
- Employer statutory on-costs: social security, pension, healthcare levies, paid by the employer on top of salary
- EOR provider fee: the monthly service fee charged by the Employer of Record, covering legal employment, compliance, and payroll administration
If you are hiring via an EOR, layers 2 and 3 are both your cost. If you have a local entity, layer 3 is replaced by a payroll bureau fee — typically a fraction of the EOR fee, which is part of why entity economics improve quickly at scale.
What Does a £60,000 UK Salary Cost via an EOR?
Layer 2: Employer on-costs
| Component | Rate | Applied to | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer National Insurance | 13.8% | £50,900 (above £9,100 ST) | £7,024 |
| Auto-enrolment pension | 3.0% | £53,760 (qualifying earnings) | £1,613 |
| Total on-costs | £8,637 |
Total employment cost (direct): £60,000 + £8,637 = £68,637/year
Layer 3: EOR provider fee
Market median for a UK EOR engagement: $699/month (≈ £6,710/year at 1.25 USD/GBP). Provider fees range from $499 to $799 depending on headcount and contract type — use the EOR Fee Comparison tool to see current published rates side-by-side.
| Cost layer | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | £60,000 |
| Employer NI + pension | £8,637 |
| EOR fee (market median) | £6,710 |
| Total fully-burdened cost | £75,347 |
| Cost above gross salary | 25.6% |
A £60,000 hire costs you £75,347 all-in via EOR, 25.6% above the salary figure on the contract. Roughly a third of that premium (£8,637) is statutory and would exist with any employment arrangement; the other two-thirds (£6,710) is the EOR service cost that disappears once you establish a local entity.
What Does an €80,000 German Salary Cost via an EOR?
Layer 2: Employer on-costs
Germany’s social insurance contribution ceilings create a split calculation. Health and long-term care contributions cap at €62,100; pension and unemployment run on the full €80,000 (ceiling is €90,600).
| Component | Rate | Applied to | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension insurance | 9.3% | €80,000 | €7,440 |
| Health insurance | 8.15% | €62,100 (ceiling) | €5,061 |
| Unemployment insurance | 1.3% | €80,000 | €1,040 |
| Long-term care | 1.7% | €62,100 (ceiling) | €1,056 |
| Accident insurance (avg.) | 1.2% | €80,000 | €960 |
| Maternity levy (U2) | 0.49% | €80,000 | €392 |
| Insolvency levy | 0.06% | €80,000 | €48 |
| Total on-costs | €15,997 |
Total employment cost (direct): €80,000 + €15,997 = €95,997/year, effective employer burden of 20.0%.
Layer 3: EOR provider fee
Market median for a Germany EOR engagement: $699/month (≈ €7,776/year at 1.08 USD/EUR).
| Cost layer | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | €80,000 |
| Employer social contributions | €15,997 |
| EOR fee (market median) | €7,776 |
| Total fully-burdened cost | €103,773 |
| Cost above gross salary | 29.7% |
How Do UK and Germany Fully-Burdened Costs Compare?
| Metric | UK (£60,000) | Germany (€80,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £60,000 | €80,000 |
| Employer on-costs | £8,637 (14.4%) | €15,997 (20.0%) |
| EOR fee | £6,710 | €7,776 |
| Total fully-burdened | £75,347 | €103,773 |
| Premium over gross salary | 25.6% | 29.7% |
Germany’s higher social insurance rates push the all-in cost further above salary even at equivalent EOR fees. The 4-point gap narrows for salaries above €90,600 (where the pension/unemployment ceiling kicks in) and widens for salaries below €62,100 (where all contributions run at full rate).
Enter your actual salary, country, and EOR provider into the live calculator to generate the figure for your specific hire.
On-cost rates: HMRC 2026/27, BMAS Sozialversicherungs-Rechengrößenverordnung 2026. EOR fee: market median from WhichPayroll EOR Pricing Dataset, May 2026. FX: £1 = $1.25, €1 = $1.08.