Calculate the true cost of employment — and what you could save with HeroForce
Employment costs your business far more than a salary. Compliance, recruitment fees, payroll admin and regulatory risk add up fast — typically 1.5–2.5x every salary you pay. Use this calculator to see how much HeroForce could save your business by shifting the employment burden to us.
Ready to see your savings?
Try the HeroForce ROI Calculator below.
Pay Details
Set the compensation for this role. The figures below are used to calculate the cost comparison on the right, based on the full time annual salary of an employee in the UK.
Gross base, before pension
Full-time equivalents (FTE)
See exactly how the numbers stack up
Compare Direct Employment, Labour Hire, and Heroforce across every cost category for UK domestic hires.
1 UK employee£39,884 Annual Salary ▾
Statutory compliance ? Employer NIC, pension & Apprenticeship Levy, equal across all models. £6,410 £6,410 £6,410 ▾
HR & payroll admin ? Staff costs, payroll processing, advisory, owner time & ELI £3,387 £2,415 £75 ▾
Recruitment ? Admin time, job postings, external recruiter fees & productivity loss £18,927 — ✓ Incl. ▾
Software & legal ? HR platform, payroll tools, compliance software & legal (Direct only) £5,180 — ✓ Incl. ▾
Agency/Service Fee ? Labour Hire: 20% of gross wages · Heroforce: 3% of wages + pension — £7,977 £1,232 ▾
Risk exposure ? Unfair dismissal exposure — not included in total amount. +£23,500 — ✓ Protected ▾
Why it matters
The hidden cost of employment is real — and most businesses don't see the full picture. Employment overheads are buried across:
Recruitment and agency fees
Payroll admin and compliance overhead
Employment Rights Act exposure
HR infrastructure and setup costs
1.5–2.5x
Employment typically costs 1.5–2.5x every salary you pay — hidden across compliance, taxes, admin and risk.
£45,000
Businesses found employing workers without valid Right to Work checks face fines of up to £45,000 per worker — a risk that's easy to miss and expensive to ignore.
Up to 80%
HeroForce customers save up to 80% compared to labour hire — and 34% compared to traditional direct employment.
Why knowing your number matters
Most businesses underestimate what employment really costs them — until it's too late. By calculating your ROI now, you can:
See the true total cost
Understand your current workforce spend, including the costs most businesses miss.
Identify where you're overspending
Pinpoint admin, compliance and hiring costs that can be reduced or eliminated.
Make a confident decision
Get a clear, data-backed picture of whether HeroForce is right for your business.
About the Calculator
A simple tool to reveal your real employment costs. The HeroForce ROI Calculator helps you:
Estimate your current total employment spend
See your potential savings with HeroForce
Understand the financial case for shifting to shared employment infrastructure
No jargon. No spreadsheets. Just a clear picture of what employment is costing you — and what it doesn't have to.
HeroForce makes employment simpler — and more affordable
Ready to build your team without the complexity and cost of being the legal employer? HeroForce handles contracts, payroll, compliance and admin while you stay in control of your people and their work. Hire locally, globally or on-demand through one connected platform.
Hire locally or globally
180+ countries. Zero entity setup.
Full compliance, handled
Contracts, payroll, tax and regulations — off your plate.
Scale on demand
Grow your team without growing your HR overhead.
Hear from real people
“If you’re running a business and want a single one-stop shop for everything from induction, to rota, to payroll, it does it all.”
Dave, Farnham General Manager
“Employment Hero delivers visibility, control and peace of mind. It has reduced cost and complexity while improving data accuracy and governance.”
David, Group CFO
“Having a system like Employment Hero which is able to automate a lot of things for us and make our life significantly easier.”
Abigail, People and Culture Manager
