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Employer Cost by Country Calculator

What does an employee really cost you in Germany, the UK, the US or Brazil? Pick up to three countries and a salary. You get every mandatory employer contribution on top of gross pay, line by line, with the official source for each rate.

Compare up to 3 countries

EUR
GBP
USD
Total cost of employment
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How the employer cost is calculated

Every country here works the same way underneath: each employer contribution is a rate applied to the part of the salary between a floor and a ceiling.

Contribution = employer rate × (min(salary, ceiling) − floor)One line per contribution; the total is the sum

Germany's pension line, for example, is 9.3% of salary up to 101,400 euros a year. The UK's National Insurance line is 15% of everything above 5,000 pounds, with no ceiling. A few items do not fit a rate: Brazil's 13th salary and vacation bonus are extra pay that the other charges are then applied to, India's gratuity is an accrual, and France reduces contributions for salaries under three times the minimum wage with a formula. The calculator handles each of these and labels it.

Only employer costs go into the total. The employee's own contributions and income tax come out of gross salary and do not change what you pay. Every rate was read from the government or social security institution's own page on the date shown on each card.

Worked example: one engineer in three countries

The calculator's defaults, rounded. Salaries are typical-looking round numbers for illustration, not market data.

2026 rates. US = California, new-employer state unemployment rate.
Germany, 75,000 euros+17,511 euros (23.3%): pension 6,975, health 5,092 + 1,011 extra, care 1,256, unemployment 975, sick-pay and maternity levies 1,905, insolvency 113, accident 185
United Kingdom, 65,000 pounds+10,321 pounds (15.9%): employer National Insurance 9,000 (15% above 5,000) + workplace pension 1,321 (3% of 6,240 to 50,270)
United States, $120,000+$9,572 (8.0%): Social Security 7,440, Medicare 1,740, federal unemployment 42, California unemployment 245, potential FUTA credit reduction 105
Total cost of employment92,511 euros · 75,321 pounds · $129,572

The US number looks low because the biggest US cost is not a tax: the average employer share of single health cover was $7,885 in 2025 (KFF), which would roughly double the on-cost. That is why the calculator shows statutory costs only and lists benefits under "Not included".

Country calculators

To plan a whole team with these costs month by month, the hiring plan calculator handles start dates and runway impact. In Adlega, salaries and employer costs flow into a 36-month SaaS model with burn and runway, and the AI CFO explains how each number was calculated.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does an employee cost on top of salary?
It depends almost entirely on the country. At the calculator's default salaries, mandatory employer costs add about 8% in the US (California) and Canada (Ontario), 13% in Ireland, 16% in the UK, 22% to 26% in Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, 32% in Spain, 45% in France and 51% in Brazil. Health insurance in the US and voluntary benefits everywhere come on top.
Which country has the highest employer social security costs?
Of the 12 countries here, Brazil and France. Brazil adds a 13th salary, a one-third vacation bonus and about 36% of charges on pay with no ceiling (INSS, RAT, third-party levies, FGTS). France charges health, family, pension, unemployment and supplementary pension contributions that total about 45% at 60,000 euros, after the general reduction.
Why does the percentage change with salary?
Because of ceilings and floors. Germany stops charging pension contributions above 101,400 euros a year and health above 69,750 euros, so the percentage falls as pay rises. The UK charges 15% only above 5,000 pounds, so it rises slightly with pay and then flattens. US Social Security stops at 184,500 dollars.
Does this include health insurance and benefits?
It includes everything the law makes the employer pay as a share of salary, including statutory health insurance where it is payroll-funded (Germany, France, Netherlands). It leaves out benefits the law does not require, such as US health plans, meal vouchers or company cars. Each country card lists what is not included.
What does an employer of record (EOR) add?
An EOR employs the person for you in their country, so you pay these same statutory costs plus the EOR fee. Deel and Remote list EOR plans from $599 a month per employee. See Deel pricing and Deel vs Remote, or model a whole team in the payroll cost calculator.
How often do these rates change?
Most countries update ceilings every January (Germany, France, Spain, Poland, US Social Security) and some update rates in April (UK) or mid-year (Ireland raised employer PRSI on October 1, 2026). Switch the calculator to 2027 to apply the changes governments have already published, and check the date on each country card.
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Adlega. "Employer Cost Calculator by Country: Cost of an Employee." Updated October 22, 2026. https://adlega.com/blog/tools/employer-cost/

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<a href="https://adlega.com/blog/tools/employer-cost/">Employer Cost Calculator by Country: Cost of an Employee</a> (Adlega, updated October 22, 2026)

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