Employer Cost Calculator Ireland 2027

What the Employer Cost Calculator does

The Employer Cost Calculator estimates the annual cost of employing staff in Ireland under the 2027 payroll rules.

It starts with gross hourly pay and paid hours, then adds employer Class A PRSI. Advanced mode can also add an employer pension percentage, a modelled MyFutureFund contribution and other recurring annual employment costs.

The calculator is designed for questions such as:

• What does a €14.94 hourly wage really cost an employer?
• How much employer PRSI is payable?
• Does weekly pay fall below or above the €600 lower employer-PRSI threshold?
• What is the total annual cost for several employees?
• How much does the 2027 minimum wage increase the cost compared with 2026?
• What happens if I add an employer pension or MyFutureFund contribution?

It is an annual planning tool rather than a payroll system. Actual payroll should always use the employee’s correct PRSI class and the live payroll rules.

2027 national minimum wage

Budget 2027 provides for the national minimum wage for workers aged 20 and over to rise from €14.15 per hour in 2026 to €14.94 per hour from 1 January 2027.

That is an increase of €0.79 per hour.

For a worker paid for 39 hours each week over 52 weeks:

2027 gross annual pay = €14.94 × 39 × 52 = €30,298.32

The equivalent 2026 minimum-wage gross pay is:

€14.15 × 39 × 52 = €28,696.20

The wage increase alone is therefore €1,602.12 a year before employer PRSI and any pension or other employment costs.

The calculator automatically produces a 2026-versus-2027 minimum-wage comparison using the paid hours, paid weeks and number of employees entered.

If the worker is under 20, an apprentice, subject to a sectoral employment order or covered by another statutory pay arrangement, the appropriate minimum rate can differ. The €14.94 reference is the adult national minimum wage.

Employer PRSI threshold in 2027

A major detail for employers is the increase in the weekly earnings threshold for the lower employer Class A PRSI rate.

The threshold moves from €552 per week to €600 per week in 2027.

This matters because the employer rate is lower where weekly earnings remain within that band.

At the 2027 minimum wage and 39 paid hours:

€14.94 × 39 = €582.66 per week

That is below the €600 threshold, so the calculator uses the lower employer Class A rate for that example.

At the 2027 minimum wage, weekly pay reaches €600 at roughly:

€600 ÷ €14.94 = 40.16 hours

That makes the threshold particularly relevant for employers whose minimum-wage staff regularly work around 40 hours or more.

The calculator reports the weekly pay it has calculated and identifies whether the lower or higher employer PRSI band has been used.

Employer PRSI rates used

Ireland’s Class A PRSI rates change during both 2026 and 2027.

For the 2026 minimum-wage comparison, the model uses:

• the applicable pre-October 2026 employer Class A rate for the first 39 weeks;
• the higher rate applying from 1 October 2026 for the final 13 weeks;
• the €552 weekly employer threshold.

For 2027, the model uses:

• 9.15% at the lower employer rate and 11.40% at the higher employer rate for the first 39 weeks;
• 9.30% at the lower rate and 11.55% at the higher rate for the final 13 weeks after the legislated October 2027 increase;
• the new €600 weekly threshold.

The calculator annualises those rates using a 39-week / 13-week split.

Actual payroll is calculated by pay period. Someone starting or leaving employment during the year may therefore produce a different result from this annualised planning model.

Worked example

Take one employee paid the 2027 national minimum wage of €14.94 per hour, working 39 paid hours per week for 52 weeks.

Gross annual pay is:

€30,298.32

Weekly gross pay is:

€582.66

Because €582.66 is below the €600 threshold, the lower employer PRSI band is used.

With the annualised 2027 rate blend in the calculator, estimated employer PRSI is approximately:

€2,783.66

Gross wages plus employer PRSI are therefore approximately:

€33,081.98

before adding any employer pension, MyFutureFund contribution, insurance, equipment, training, payroll software or other overhead.

Using the same 39-hour and 52-week assumptions, the modelled 2026 minimum-wage wage-plus-employer-PRSI cost is approximately €31,289.62.

The increase is therefore approximately €1,792.36 per employee per year before any additional employer costs selected in Advanced mode.

For ten equivalent employees, that difference scales to roughly €17,924 a year.

This is why employers should budget from total employment cost rather than multiplying the headline hourly wage by hours alone.

MyFutureFund in Advanced mode

Ireland’s auto-enrolment system, MyFutureFund, creates an additional employer contribution for participating employees.

The statutory employer contribution remains 1.5% in 2027 during the first phase of the scheme.

The calculator can add 1.5% of modelled eligible annual earnings up to the scheme’s €80,000 contribution cap where you select MyFutureFund in Advanced mode.

Do not automatically switch this on for every employee.

An employee who already has qualifying supplementary pension coverage through payroll may not be participating in MyFutureFund. Eligibility also depends on the scheme rules.

For an employee with annual earnings of €30,298.32, a 1.5% employer contribution would be about €454.47 if the employee is participating for the full modelled year.

For a deeper employee-and-employer projection across the statutory phase-in, use the MyFutureFund Calculator.

Employer pension input

Advanced mode also includes a separate employer pension percentage.

This is useful where the employer contributes to an occupational pension or another qualifying workplace arrangement.

The input is applied as a simple percentage of annual gross pay.

If you enter both an employer pension percentage and switch on MyFutureFund, the calculator includes both. That may be appropriate for a scenario comparison, but it can also double-count retirement costs if the employee would not actually participate in both arrangements.

Use the inputs to reflect the real benefit structure rather than assuming every field must be filled.

Other employment costs

Gross pay and employer PRSI are not the full economic cost of employing someone.

Depending on the role and business, costs can include:

• paid annual leave;
• public holidays;
• sick leave;
• employer pension contributions;
• MyFutureFund;
• employers’ liability insurance;
• uniforms and PPE;
• laptops, phones or tools;
• recruitment fees;
• training;
• professional registration;
• payroll software;
• HR support;
• office space;
• travel or subsistence;
• bonuses and benefits in kind.

The calculator does not attempt to guess these costs.

Advanced mode instead provides one annual “other cost per employee” field. This lets a business include only costs that are relevant to its own planning.

For labour-intensive businesses, even a modest per-employee overhead can materially change the true hourly cost.

Cost per paid hour

The calculator reports total employer cost per paid hour.

This is different from the employee’s gross hourly wage.

For example, an employee may receive €14.94 per hour while the employer’s cost per paid hour is higher after employer PRSI and retirement contributions.

It can be useful when pricing services, calculating gross margin, comparing outsourcing with direct employment or deciding whether a new role is commercially viable.

However, paid-hour cost is still not the same as productive-hour cost.

If an employee is paid for annual leave, training, administration and downtime, the number of hours that can actually be billed to a customer may be lower than the number of paid hours.

A business using the figure for pricing should therefore build a separate utilisation assumption into its commercial model.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Irish minimum wage in 2027?

The announced national minimum wage for workers aged 20 and over is €14.94 per hour from 1 January 2027.

What is the employer PRSI threshold in 2027?

The weekly earnings threshold for the lower employer Class A PRSI rate is due to increase to €600 in 2027.

Is €14.94 for 39 hours below the €600 PRSI threshold?

Yes. €14.94 multiplied by 39 hours is €582.66 a week, which is below €600.

Does the calculator include employee PRSI?

No. Employee PRSI is deducted from the employee’s gross pay and affects take-home pay. This tool focuses on the employer’s additional cost. Use the Take-Home Pay Calculator for employee deductions.

Does it include MyFutureFund?

It can. Advanced mode lets you add the 1.5% 2027 employer contribution on modelled eligible earnings up to €80,000. Only switch it on where participation is relevant.

Is this suitable for payroll processing?

No. It is a budgeting calculator. Payroll software and official Revenue/Social Protection rules should be used for actual pay-period calculations.

Method and limitations

The calculator multiplies the entered hourly rate by paid hours per week and paid weeks per year to estimate annual gross pay per employee.

Employer PRSI is annualised using the weekly pay implied by the hourly-rate and hours inputs. The model selects the lower or higher Class A employer band based on the relevant weekly threshold and blends the first nine months and final three months of the year’s rates.

The minimum-wage comparison reruns the same hours, paid weeks and employee count at €14.15 for 2026 and €14.94 for 2027. It uses the employer PRSI thresholds and rate blends applicable to each year.

Advanced employer pension contributions are calculated as a percentage of gross pay. MyFutureFund is modelled at 1.5% of earnings up to €80,000. Other annual costs are added directly.

The model does not calculate VAT, corporation tax, employee Income Tax, employee USC, workers’ compensation, statutory leave accruals, overtime premiums, Sunday premiums, sectoral minimum rates, redundancy provisions or every benefit in kind.

It assumes a stable weekly pattern. Actual employer PRSI can differ where pay varies between periods or where a worker’s PRSI class is not Class A.

Use the result as a budgeting estimate and verify actual payroll obligations with official guidance or payroll software.

Useful sources

Department of Social Protection — PRSI Class A rates

RTÉ — Budget 2027 at a glance