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Employee Cost Calculator
Base salary is only the starting point. Add super, workers' compensation, payroll tax and leave loading to see what a hire actually costs — and the true cost-per-hour.
Role inputs
Typical: 0.3–0.8% office, 2–4% trades, 4%+ construction/agriculture.
True cost breakdown
- Base salary
- $75,000.00
- Superannuation (12%)
- $9,000.00
- Leave loading (17.5% of 4 weeks)
- $1,009.62
- Workers' compensation
- $375.00
- Total annual cost
- $85,384.62
On-cost uplift over base13.8%
Productive hours per year (46 weeks)1748 h
Effective cost per hour$48.85
How this is calculated
Total annual employee cost is base + super + leave loading + workers' comp + payroll tax + other on-costs. The calculator assumes a full-year of service and 52 pay weeks.
- Super: Superannuation Guarantee at 12% of ordinary time earnings (from 1 July 2025).
- Leave loading: 17.5% loading paid on 4 weeks of annual leave = approx.
base × 4/52 × 17.5%, where it applies. Turn off for award-free or loaded-rate roles. - Workers' compensation: industry premium rate varies — from ~0.3% for low-risk office work to 4%+ for construction and agriculture. Enter the rate from your insurer's notice.
- Payroll tax: state tax on total wages once you exceed the state threshold (e.g. $1.3M/year in Qld). Only enable this if your business is over the threshold.
Effective hourly cost = total cost ÷ (hours per week × working weeks per year, default 46 after removing 4 weeks annual leave + 2 weeks typical personal/public holiday non-productive days). This gives a realistic rate for quoting and pricing work.