Bench cost calculator for IT staffing

Set by law: Social Security 6.2% up to $184,500, Medicare 1.45% and federal unemployment 0.6% of the first $7,000; state unemployment and workers' compensation vary by state. (IRS; IRS; US Department of Labor; US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

At the example salary of $80,000, that comes to $6,162 a year, 7.7% of salary.

On the bench: H-1B consultants must be paid while benched. When an H-1B worker has no assigned work because of the employer's decision, the employer still owes the full required wage until a bona fide termination. Salaried exempt staff get their full salary for any week they do any work, and pay can't be docked for days when work isn't available. (US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division; eCFR)

Worth knowing: Consultants on 1099 or corp-to-corp (C2C) terms aren't on payroll, so they cost nothing between placements; whether someone is an employee turns on who controls the work. (IRS)

Set by law: CPP 5.95% between $3,500 and $74,600, CPP2 4% up to $85,000 and EI at 1.4 times the employee rate up to $68,900 (outside Quebec). (Canada Revenue Agency; Canada Revenue Agency; Canada Revenue Agency; Government of Ontario)

At the example salary of $85,000, that comes to $6,218 a year, 7.3% of salary.

On the bench: Temporary lay-offs have a time limit. In Ontario, a lay-off longer than 13 weeks in any 20 consecutive weeks (or 35 weeks in 52 with conditions such as continued benefits) counts as a termination, and a lay-off the employment contract doesn't allow can be constructive dismissal. Federally regulated employers have a three-month limit. (Government of Ontario; Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada)

Worth knowing: Incorporated IT consultants are usually employees of their own corporation rather than of the agency, but the personal services business rules tax a corporation whose owner would otherwise be the client's employee more heavily. (Canada Revenue Agency; Canada Revenue Agency)

Set by law: Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year and the 3% workplace pension minimum on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. (HMRC; GOV.UK; The Pensions Regulator; HMRC)

At the example salary of £50,000, that comes to £8,062 a year, 16.1% of salary.

On the bench: Benched staff are owed full pay unless their contract allows unpaid lay-offs. Even then, statutory guarantee pay is £41 a day for up to 5 days in any 3 months, and after 4 weeks of lay-off in a row (or 6 in any 13) the employee can claim redundancy. (GOV.UK)

Worth knowing: Contractors who work through their own limited company or an umbrella company aren't on the agency's payroll between contracts. Under the off-payroll rules (IR35), medium and large clients decide whether a contractor would be an employee, and from 6 April 2026 an agency answers for PAYE when an umbrella company in its chain doesn't pay it. (HMRC; HMRC)

Set by law: Employer shares of pension (9.3%), unemployment (1.3%), health (7.3% plus half the 2.9% average top-up), long-term care (1.8%) and the 0.15% insolvency levy, each up to its 2026 ceiling. (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales; Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales; Bundesministerium der Justiz; Bundesministerium für Gesundheit; Bundesministerium für Gesundheit; Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung)

At the example salary of €65,000, that comes to €13,845 a year, 21.3% of salary.

On the bench: Pay continues when there's no work. An employer that doesn't take up the work an employee offers still owes the agreed pay, less anything the employee saves or earns elsewhere (§ 615 BGB), and for agency workers a contract can't exclude or limit that claim (§ 11 AÜG). Temporary-work agencies can't claim short-time work allowance (Kurzarbeitergeld) for benched staff. (Bundesministerium der Justiz; Bundesministerium der Justiz; Bundesagentur für Arbeit)

Worth knowing: Freelancers cost nothing between projects, but someone who presents as self-employed while working as an employee is falsely self-employed. A payroll audit can then demand back contributions from the client, and the clearing office of Deutsche Rentenversicherung decides the question on request in a status determination (Statusfeststellung). (Deutsche Rentenversicherung)

Set by law: Employer PF (EPF and EPS) at 12% of wages up to ₹25,000 a month, EDLI and admin charges at 0.5% each, gratuity at 15 days' wages a year, and ESI at 3.25% where pay is ₹21,000 a month or less. (Gazette of India; Gazette of India; Gazette of India; EPFO; ESIC)

At the example salary of ₹12,00,000, that comes to ₹67,846 a year, 5.6% of salary.

On the bench: Pay doesn't stop for lack of a project. The Code on Wages allows deductions from wages only on the grounds it lists, absence from work among them, and the Industrial Relations Code's lay-off compensation (half of basic wages and dearness allowance) is written for factories, mines and plantations. Check the employment contract and state rules before any unpaid bench. (Gazette of India; Gazette of India)

Worth knowing: Salaries are quoted as CTC, cost to company, which takes in the employer's PF contribution, so a burden rate added on top counts it twice. Since 21 November 2025, PF and gratuity are worked out on wages that can't be less than half of total pay. (PIB, Ministry of Labour and Employment; PIB, Ministry of Labour and Employment)

Set by law: Employer CPF at 17% of wages up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling for citizens and permanent residents aged 55 and below, and the Skills Development Levy at 0.25%, at most S$11.25 a month. (CPF Board; CPF Board; CPF Board; CPF Board; Ministry of Manpower, Singapore; Ministry of Manpower, Singapore)

At the example salary of $84,000, that comes to $14,415 a year, 17.1% of salary.

On the bench: Salary is owed under the employment contract while a consultant waits. The Ministry of Manpower's guidance treats a temporary lay-off as an alternative to retrenchment, paying at least half of gross salary for the days laid off and lasting no more than a month at a time, subject to review. (Ministry of Manpower, Singapore; Ministry of Manpower, Singapore)

Worth knowing: Employment Pass holders carry no CPF and no foreign worker levy, so their bench cost is salary plus the skills levy; an S Pass holder adds a S$650 monthly levy. CPF applies only to citizens and permanent residents. (CPF Board; Ministry of Manpower, Singapore; Ministry of Manpower, Singapore)

Set by law: SSS at 10% of pay up to ₱35,000 a month plus employees' compensation, PhilHealth at 2.5% up to ₱100,000, Pag-IBIG at up to ₱200 a month, and the 13th-month pay. (Social Security System, Philippines; PhilHealth; Department of Budget and Management, Philippines; Supreme Court of the Philippines E-Library)

At the example salary of ₱720,000, that comes to ₱122,760 a year, 17% of salary.

On the bench: Floating status has a six-month limit and needs a real suspension of business. A bona fide suspension of operations of up to six months doesn't end employment (Labor Code, Article 301), but the Supreme Court held in Innodata v. Inting (2017) that a drop in work on a client project isn't enough: floating staff while the business kept operating was constructive dismissal. (Supreme Court of the Philippines)

Worth knowing: Rank-and-file staff are paid for thirteen months a year: the 13th-month pay, a twelfth of the year's basic salary, is due by 24 December, so a year of bench costs more than twelve months of salary. (Supreme Court of the Philippines E-Library; Supreme Court of the Philippines)

Set by law: Employer EPF at 13% of wages up to RM5,000 a month (12% above, with no ceiling), SOCSO at 1.75% and the Employment Insurance System at 0.2%, both up to RM6,000 a month. (KWSP (EPF Malaysia); PERKESO (SOCSO); PERKESO (SOCSO))

At the example salary of RM 96,000, that comes to RM 12,924 a year, 13.4% of salary.

On the bench: Wages fall due at the end of every wage period, bench or not (Employment Act 1955, section 19). The lay-off regulations reach only staff whose pay depends on being given work, so a fixed monthly salary keeps running while a consultant waits. (Department of Labour, Peninsular Malaysia; Department of Labour, Peninsular Malaysia)

Worth knowing: Foreign consultants pay into EPF too: from October 2025 wages, the employer and the employee each contribute 2% for non-Malaysians, against the employer's 12% or 13% for Malaysians. (KWSP (EPF Malaysia))

Set by law: No income tax or social security for expatriates; an end-of-service gratuity of 21 days' basic wage a year for the first five years, 30 days after. (UAE Government portal (u.ae); UAE Government portal (u.ae); UAE Government portal (u.ae); Dubai Health Authority (ISAHD); Department of Health, Abu Dhabi)

At the example salary of AED 180,000, that comes to AED 10,494 a year, 5.8% of salary.

On the bench: Wages stay due when there's no work. The employer must enable the worker to work and otherwise owes the agreed wage (Article 26 of the labour law), and unpaid leave is the worker's to ask for, with the employer's approval, not the employer's to impose (Article 33). (UAE Government portal (u.ae))

Worth knowing: The sponsoring employer pays recruitment, visa and residency costs, and in Dubai and Abu Dhabi the employee's health insurance, so a benched consultant on a company visa keeps costing all of them. UAE nationals join the state pension instead of the gratuity, with the employer paying 15% for those insured from 31 October 2023. (UAE Government portal (u.ae); UAE Government portal (u.ae); Dubai Health Authority (ISAHD); Department of Health, Abu Dhabi)

Set by law: The Superannuation Guarantee at 12% of earnings up to $270,830 a year, paid on payday from 1 July 2026; state payroll tax and workers' compensation vary by state. (Australian Taxation Office; Revenue NSW; State Revenue Office Victoria; WorkSafe Victoria)

At the example salary of $120,000, that comes to $14,400 a year, 12% of salary.

On the bench: Lack of work isn't a reason to stop pay. An employer can stand employees down without pay only when they can't usefully be employed because of industrial action, a breakdown of equipment or a stoppage the employer can't be held responsible for (Fair Work Act, section 524), and the Fair Work Ombudsman says a quiet business doesn't qualify. (Federal Register of Legislation, Australia; Fair Work Ombudsman)

Worth knowing: A consultant who contracts through their own company is a contractor for tax and super, so costs nothing between placements. Labour hire providers need a licence in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, and hosts may only use licensed ones. (Australian Taxation Office; Labour Hire Authority, Victoria; Queensland Legislation; Government of South Australia; ACT Legislation Register)

Set by law: Not modelled. Enter the burden rate from your own payroll.

On the bench: In most countries pay continues while an employee waits for work: lay-offs without pay are narrow, time-limited or need the contract's backing. Check the rules where your consultants are employed before planning an unpaid bench.

Worth knowing: Consultants who invoice through their own company aren't on the payroll, so they cost nothing between placements, but every country has its own test of who is really an employee.