Employer National Insurance Rates 2026/27

For a standard category A employee, employer National Insurance starts above the secondary threshold: £96 a week, £417 a month or £5,000 a year. The main rate is 15%, with no upper earnings limit. This is a business cost paid to HMRC in addition to the employee's gross pay; it is not deducted from take-home pay.

Use the employer NI calculator to model a salary, and the employee cost calculator when pension contributions also matter.

The annual formula is useful for an offer letter or annual workforce plan. Actual Class 1 secondary NI is normally calculated against each pay period. A regular monthly category A employee uses the £417 monthly threshold; a weekly-paid employee uses £96. The exact payroll result can differ slightly from an annual estimate divided by 12 because thresholds and rounding are period-based.

Do not use an annual calculator as a substitute for payroll software, particularly where pay varies, a starter or leaver is involved, or an employee has a special category letter. Our monthly employer NI guide explains a transparent regular-month illustration and its limits.

Employment Allowance can reduce an eligible employer's total Class 1 secondary liability by up to £10,500 in 2026/27. It is an allowance for the employer's payroll as a whole, not a discount permanently attached to one worker. A business with £9,800 of eligible employer NI pays none after a valid claim; a business with £14,000 pays the £3,500 balance.

Eligibility is not automatic. GOV.UK says a business or public body generally needs to do less than half its work in the public sector, and a one-director company cannot claim if that director is the only employee liable for secondary Class 1 NI. Connected groups can have only one claimant. Read our Employment Allowance eligibility guide before making a payroll declaration.

The standard formula is not right for every employee. Employer NI can be 0% up to a higher upper secondary threshold for a qualifying employee under 21, apprentice under 25 or veteran. Freeport and Investment Zone categories can have a 0% employer rate only up to their own £25,000 annual upper secondary threshold, after which the normal 15% rate applies.

The category letter and evidence for eligibility are payroll decisions, not optional calculator settings. Review age, apprenticeship and location conditions when onboarding and retain the evidence required by HMRC. Our employer NI category-letter guide explains the planning impact and points to the official tables.

Salary, wages, bonuses, overtime and commission are generally NI-able pay. Genuine employer pension contributions are normally outside Class 1 employer NI, which is one reason salary sacrifice pension arrangements may reduce employer costs. Benefits in kind are different: Class 1A National Insurance is generally charged at 15% on taxable benefits, while Class 1B applies to PAYE Settlement Agreements.

That is why an offer-cost model should not stop at salary plus employer NI. Add any employer pension contribution and expected benefit cost. The employee cost calculator and workplace pension calculator cover the common first-pass figures.

Before relying on a figure, confirm the worker's category letter, pay frequency, expected gross NI-able earnings and whether any salary sacrifice applies. Then check Employment Allowance eligibility at employer level rather than assuming every small company qualifies. Use current payroll software for final RTI submissions and compare the liability with the HMRC account.

For a recruitment decision, start with a salary scenario in the employer NI on salary guide, then add pension and other employment costs. This separates a useful budget estimate from the exact statutory payroll calculation.

The standard 2026/27 employer rate is 15% above the £5,000 annual secondary threshold, with no upper limit. Period thresholds, special category letters and Employment Allowance can change the result. Use the annual formula for planning, payroll software for the statutory calculation, and the linked guides for the specific employer decision you are making.