New Hire Calculator
The New Hire Calculator works out what someone new would really cost you before you take them on: their hourly rate plus employer National Insurance and pension, what each rota hour costs, and the cost over a whole year. Use it to answer questions like "What would it actually cost to hire someone at £13/hr?" or "How much do we save by hiring an apprentice?". Nothing is saved, and no employee record changes.
Opening the calculator
Open StaffBrik > Pay Rise Planner and click New Hire Calculator at the top of the page. Owners, admins and members see the button; viewers do not.
The calculator always works in pounds, whatever your business's currency, because it uses UK NI and pension rules.
When to use the calculator
- Hiring decisions - see the true cost of a new role before you advertise it.
- Comparing candidates - a 19-year-old on NI category M and a 30-year-old on category A at the same rate can cost very different amounts. Run the calculator once for each.
- Budget planning - see the cost for a year at the hours you expect.
- Menu pricing - get the cost per working hour, with holiday included, to factor into dish costing.
For a pay rise for people already on your team, use the Pay Rise Planner itself.
The steps
The calculator asks three questions, one at a time, with the steps named across the top: NI category, Hours and pension and Hourly rate. Back returns to the previous step.
NI category
"What type of employee are you hiring?" Pick one of four cards:
| Card | NI category | Employer NI |
|---|---|---|
| Standard employee | A | 15% on earnings above £96 a week. The most common for employees aged 21 and over |
| Under 21 | M | None until earnings reach £967 a week |
| Apprentice under 25 | H | None until earnings reach £967 a week. They must be on an approved apprenticeship |
| Over State Pension age | C | The same as standard, but no auto-enrolment pension. The employee must be 66 or older |
It starts on Standard employee. Only these four letters are offered; see NI categories for the rest.
Under-21s (category M) and apprentices under 25 (category H) pay no employer NI until they earn £967 a week, against £96 a week for most staff. On typical hospitality hours that means no employer NI at all, which can make a younger hire noticeably cheaper at the same rate.
Hours and pension
"How many hours will they work?"
- Hours per week - the contracted weekly hours. This is required. It sets the annual cost and the cost per working hour, and the NI and pension thresholds are applied to a week at these hours.
- Enrolled in workplace pension - ticked by default. Untick it to cost someone who has opted out. For Under 21 and Over State Pension age, who are not auto-enrolled because of their age, it reads Opt into workplace pension and starts unticked: tick it to include pension costs.
- Employer pension contribution - shown while the pension box is ticked. It starts at 3%, the legal minimum. The calculator does not use the pension rate in StaffBrik Settings.
Picking a different NI category resets the pension box and puts the contribution back to 3%.
Hourly rate
"What hourly rate will you pay?" Enter the Base hourly rate, the gross rate before any deductions, or pick one of the Common rates. Then click Calculate cost.
The common rates are:
- Minimum wage (21+) - the National Living Wage in force today.
- The next 21+ rate, for example 21+ from April 2027 - shown once a rise has been announced, until the day it starts.
- Real Living Wage (£14.10) and London Living Wage (£15.45) - the Living Wage Foundation's voluntary rates for 2026-27.
The results
Estimated annual cost
The headline figure is the Estimated annual cost: the shift cost for their weekly hours over all 52 weeks of the year, including the weeks they are on holiday. Underneath it says what it is based on, for example "Based on 30 hours/week at £13.21/hr".
Shift cost and true cost
Two figures sit under the headline:
| Figure | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Shift cost, per rota hour | Base rate + employer NI + pension | Rota costing. It is what a rota hour costs for staff whose holiday is costed when they take it |
| True cost, per working hour | The shift cost spread over the 46.4 weeks a year they actually work: you pay for 52 weeks, you get work for 46.4 | Menu pricing and margins |
The difference between these two figures matters. If you use the shift cost for menu pricing, you will underestimate your labour costs, because it leaves out the holiday pay employees earn on top of their working hours. Always use the true cost for pricing decisions.
The calculator costs a new hire as contracted staff, whose holiday is costed when they take it. For staff whose pay rate rolls holiday into the hourly cost (zero-hours and casual staff, by default), the rota adds the 12.07% holiday pay, with the NI and pension on it, to every shift they work. See Zero-hours and casual staff.
Below the two figures, a summary repeats the NI category, the Employer NI rate and the Pension rate (or Not enrolled).
Detailed breakdown
View detailed breakdown opens the Cost breakdown:
- Base hourly rate
- Employer NI, with its rate
- Pension, with its rate when they are enrolled
- Shift cost, "What each rota hour costs"
- Holiday accrual, 12.07% of the base rate per hour, "Realised when leave is taken"
- Cost per working hour, the true cost, "Useful for pricing/margins"
- Annual cost projection: the year's cost at Your employee's weekly hours, and at 20, 30 and 40 hours a week for comparison
Each projection is worked out at its own hours, so the weekly NI and pension thresholds are applied to 20, 30 or 40 hours rather than scaled from one figure.
Calculate another clears the answers and starts again.
Worked example
A hire at £13.21/hr on category A, working 30 hours a week with a 3% pension:
| Per hour | |
|---|---|
| Base hourly rate | £13.21 |
| Employer NI: 15% of (£396.30 - £96) = £45.05 a week, ÷ 30 hours | £1.50 |
| Pension: 3% of (£396.30 - £120) = £8.29 a week, ÷ 30 hours | £0.28 |
| Shift cost | £14.99 |
| True cost (£14.99 x 52 ÷ 46.4) | £16.80 |
The Estimated annual cost is £14.99 x 30 hours x 52 weeks = £23,384.40, shown as £23,384.
That hire costs over £23,000 a year, against the £20,608 (£13.21 x 30 x 52 = £20,607.60) you might estimate from the base rate alone. Run the same rate as Under 21 and the employer NI drops away, and with no pension (they are not auto-enrolled) the year comes to £20,608.
The calculator uses the current UK NI and auto-enrolment thresholds. They change most years (usually each April). StaffBrik is updated when they do, but always check HMRC guidance for formal payroll purposes.