Staffing Agency Labor Burden Calculator
The agency carries the burden and bills the client. Get the percentage wrong and the markup stops covering it.
Pre-filled with staffing agency estimates: workers comp 1.5%, benefits 4.0%, 5 PTO days, overhead 3.0%. Edit any field below.
Social Security + Medicare (7.65%)
Federal unemployment (effective 0.6%)
Health, retirement, etc.
$36.41/hr
Fully burdened rate
21.4%
Burden added
$75,722
Annual cost
Burden breakdown
A $36.41/hr fully burdened rate is real money per placement. Skillora's AI screens every candidate so you only pay for the right ones.
Estimates only, using editable 2025 US defaults. Tax and insurance rates vary by employer, classification, and locality. Verify with a licensed accountant before relying on these figures.
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A staffing agency pays the payroll taxes, workers comp, and unemployment insurance on every temp it places, then bills a client a markup that has to cover all of it plus gross margin. A one-point error in burden on a $20 an hour placement across 100 contractors is $41,600 a year of margin that disappears. This staffing agency labor burden calculator starts from agency defaults so the markup math holds.
Why labor burden is different in staffing agency
Staffing burden is different because the agency is the employer of record for people it does not supervise. That means the agency owns the SUI experience rating, and staffing firms generate more unemployment claims than most employers because assignments end. Many agencies carry SUI rates well above the new-employer estimate in their state, and in states with a high wage base, such as Washington or New Jersey, SUI is the largest burden line after FICA.
Workers comp follows the assignment, not the agency. A clerical temp is rated in a clerical class code at a fraction of a percent of payroll. The same agency placing forklift operators or light industrial workers pays several percent on that payroll. Agencies that run one blended rate across both lose money on the industrial side and overprice the clerical side. Rate each placement by its class code.
Benefits and PTO are thinner but not zero. Under the ACA, agencies with 50 or more full-time-equivalent workers must offer coverage to eligible temps, and take-up is low but not free. A growing list of states and cities require paid sick leave that accrues from day one. The 4% benefits and 5-day PTO defaults reflect that; adjust upward if you offer a richer plan to attract candidates.
Worked example with staffing agency defaults
Take a administrative assistant at $22.00 an hour. Add employer FICA at 7.65%, FUTA at 0.6%, state unemployment at the 2.7% US default, workers comp at 1.5%, benefits at 4.0%, and 4.9% for overhead plus 5 PTO days. Total burden is 21.4%, so the fully burdened rate is $26.70 an hour, or $55,530 a year on 2,080 hours against $45,760 of base wages.
| Role (pay estimate) | Pay rate | Burden | Fully burdened | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative assistant | $22.00/hr | 21.4% | $26.70/hr | $55,530 |
| Warehouse associate | $19.00/hr | 21.4% | $23.06/hr | $47,958 |
| Customer service representative | $20.00/hr | 21.4% | $24.27/hr | $50,482 |
Pay rates are rounded estimates near national medians, and the SUI line uses the US default. Open a state page from the labor burden by state list to swap in a local SUI estimate, then enter your own class rate for workers comp.
What drives the range
SUI experience rating
Every ended assignment can become a claim, and claims raise next year's rate. Agencies that redeploy people quickly, contest ineligible claims, and document voluntary quits protect their rate. Check the annual rate notice and enter the assigned rate rather than the new-employer default.
Class code per assignment
Workers comp is assigned by the work the temp performs at the client. A single agency may carry a dozen class codes. Price each order with the class rate for that job, not a company average.
Multi-state payroll
Placements in several states mean several SUI wage bases and rates, and workers comp rates that differ by state for the same class. The state pages linked below pre-fill the SUI estimate for each state.
Statutory paid leave
Paid sick leave mandates in states like California, New York, Washington, and many cities apply to temps. Accrual is usually one hour per 30 worked. That is roughly 3.3% of hours, and it belongs in the PTO or overhead line.
Staffing Agency burden defaults
| Input | Default | Typical spread (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Workers comp (% of payroll) | 1.5% | 0.3% to 5.0% by class code |
| Benefits (% of wages) | 4.0% | Health and retirement only |
| Paid time off | 5 days | 1.9% of a 2,080-hour year |
| Overhead (% of wages) | 3.0% | Entered as 4.9% with PTO |
| Typical total burden | 21.4% | 12% to 22% |
Sources: benefits share from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release; workers comp variation from NCCI class codes and state rating bureaus; pay estimates near BLS OEWS medians. PTO, overhead, and the burden range are estimates, not published figures.
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC): benefits share of total compensation by industry
- NCCI class codes and state workers compensation rating bureaus: rate variation by classification
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS): median hourly wages by occupation
- PTO, overhead, and burden range defaults are Skillora estimates from staffing practice, not published figures
More labor burden calculators
Labor burden calculator with the generic US defaults, and labor burden by state for local SUI estimates in all 50 states and DC.
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