Labor Cost Calculator
Free labor cost calculator: turn team size, hours, hourly rate, and overtime into the total labor cost of a shift or project.
Enter the work
Enter how many people worked, their hours and rate, and any overtime, to see what the labor cost.
Labor cost is people multiplied by hours and the hourly rate, with overtime hours charged at the multiplier you set. It is a direct wage cost and does not include taxes, benefits, or overhead.
How labor cost is calculated
Each person’s cost is their hours times the hourly rate, plus any overtime hours at the higher overtime rate. Multiplied by the number of people, that gives the total labor cost of the shift or project.
This is the direct wage cost. A fully loaded cost rate also adds payroll taxes, benefits, and overhead, which is worth remembering when you price work from it.
Labor cost questions
How is overtime priced?
Overtime hours are paid at the rate multiplied by whatever you set, 1.5 by default for time and a half. Set it to 2 for double time, or to 1 if your overtime is paid flat.
Is this a daily or weekly cost?
Whatever period the hours cover. Enter a day’s hours for a daily cost, a week’s for a weekly one. The calculator multiplies by headcount rather than assuming a period.
Should I use the wage or the loaded cost?
Use a loaded rate, meaning wage plus employer taxes, benefits, and the other per-hour costs of employing someone. A bare wage understates labor cost by a margin large enough to change a pricing decision.
Everyone on my team has a different rate.
It assumes everyone shares the rate and hours you enter. For a team on different rates, run it once per group and add the totals, or use cost rates per person in a time record.
Base labor cost on real hours
Sandtime.io records the hours people actually work per project, so labor cost rests on a real record instead of an estimate. Free for unlimited users, without surveillance.