Temp charge rate calculator.
From pay rate to charge rate, with every on-cost shown: holiday pay, employer NI, pension, the levy if you pay it, and what's left as margin.
How it works.
Everything is worked out per hour, then per week, for a PAYE temp paid through you. Each line uses one rule:
- Holiday pay at 12.07% of pay, the rate for irregular-hours and part-year workers for leave years from April 2024. It's paid rolled up or accrued; the cost is the same.
- Employer NI at 15% on weekly pay above £96 (£5,000 a year), from GOV.UK rates and allowances. Holiday pay counts as pay. The Employment Allowance isn't taken off, because it applies to your whole payroll, not one worker.
- Pension at the 3% employer minimum on earnings between £120 and £967 a week.
- Apprenticeship Levy at 0.5% of pay, only if your annual pay bill is over £3m.
What's left of the charge rate is your gross margin. Overheads, bad debt and insurance come out of that. After 12 weeks in the same role the temp is due the same basic pay and conditions as the client's own staff under the Agency Workers Regulations, which can change the pay rate. Our AWR 12-week calculator gives the date.
The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026. The tool flags a pay rate below it.
A guide, not legal advice. It applies the rules as written to the dates and figures you enter. Your own terms and the facts of a case can change the answer; if money or a dispute turns on it, check with an employment lawyer.
Rates as of 21 October 2026. Checked every April.
When the rules change.
Rates and thresholds move most Aprils. Leave your email and we'll tell you when this tool is updated. We won't use it for anything else, and you can ask us to delete it at hello@hikari-ai.co.uk.
Built by Hikari. We recruited at Google, Meta, AWS, Shell and BP, and now build AI for recruitment desks. These tools are free, run in your browser, and send nothing anywhere.