UK Total Compensation Calculator
Compare two UK job offers on their true annual value — base + bonus + employer pension + shares + salary sacrifice + BiK + holiday. Base salary alone usually hides £5k–£30k of real value.
Why base salary is the wrong number to compare on
Recruiters lead with base because it's the simplest headline number, but it's rarely the biggest driver of what you actually take home over a year. Two offers with the same £70k base can differ by £15,000+ in real value once employer pension, shares, salary sacrifice tax savings, holiday and private medical are priced in. This calculator adds up all the moving parts so you can see which offer is genuinely worth more — and where the losing offer is weakest, so you know exactly what to negotiate.
1. Base salary — the anchor, not the answer
Base is what your monthly payslip and mortgage application care about. It's also what drives your pension percentage, bonus multiplier, share-scheme headroom and unemployment benefits. So while it's not the full picture, it's usually 60–75% of the real number and the number to negotiate first.
2. Bonus / commission — target × probability
A £10,000 "target" bonus at a company that pays out 60% of target on average is really a £6,000 expectation. Use your realistic hit-rate rather than the max quoted number.
3. Employer pension — the invisible pay rise
This is the single most under-valued line item in UK offers. 8% employer contribution on £65k base = £5,200/year of tax-free, NI-free money going straight into your pension. The offer with 4% is losing you £2,600 of real annual value vs the offer with 8% — often more than a £2,000 base-salary uplift once tax and NI are removed.
4. RSUs and share options — real, with a haircut
Shares are the wildcard. For a public FAANG-tier company with vested RSUs, they're basically cash on a delay — a 5–10% confidence discount is reasonable. For a Series-A startup with options at today's strike, apply 50–80% because the outcome is binary. The slider on the calculator lets you set this explicitly per offer.
5. Salary sacrifice — tax you don't pay
If Offer A gives you access to salary sacrifice pension, EV car and cycle-to-work and you use them, the tax you save is real additional value. £5,000 sacrificed at higher rate saves ~£2,000 in Income Tax + Employee NI. Offer B without a sacrifice scheme can't match this on base alone — you'd have to work backwards from ~£3,400 of gross salary to make up the £2,000 of net savings.
6. Private medical — a BiK, not free money
Employer-paid PMI shows up on your P11D as a taxable benefit — you pay Income Tax on the cost, but not National Insurance. On a £1,200 policy at 40%, the tax hit is £480, so the real value to you is £720. Tick the "discount by BiK tax" option in the calc to model this properly.
7. Holiday — pure hidden compensation
30 days off vs 25 days off, at £250/day, is £1,250/year of value the base salary doesn't reveal. On a £60k role that's equivalent to a 2% raise. Companies that quietly stuff extra holiday into offers know exactly what they're doing.
Worked example — the £70k that beats a £77k
Offer A: £70,000 base + 10% bonus + 8% employer pension + £15k
RSUs (public co, 20% haircut) + £5k salary sacrifice + 28 days
holiday.
Offer B: £77,000 base + 5% bonus + 3% employer pension + no
shares + no sacrifice + 25 days.
Total value A ≈ £91,700. Total value B ≈ £83,700. Offer A wins
by £8,000/year despite being £7,000 lower on base. Most people
take Offer B.
Frequently asked questions
Why does base salary alone under-value most UK job offers?
The parts of your package that never appear on a job ad often add up to 15-40% of the headline figure. Employer pension contributions of 5-10% are pure extra money you don't pay tax or NI on. Share schemes (RSUs, ESPP, options) can add another 10-30% for tech, finance and pharma roles. Salary sacrifice for pension, cycle-to-work or EV cars saves you 32%+ on the sacrificed amount. Private medical costs the employer £600-£1,500 but only shows up as a small BiK on your P11D. Comparing on base salary is like comparing car prices without insurance, fuel or road tax.
How do employer pension contributions actually add value?
If your employer pays 8% of a £60k salary into your pension, that's £4,800/year of extra compensation you would otherwise have to fund yourself. Unlike your own pension contribution, the employer's part isn't taxed or NI'd - so £4,800 in your pension costs the employer £4,800 flat. To match that from take-home pay you'd need to earn ~£8,000 gross. This calculator counts the employer contribution at its full £4,800 face value because that's the real economic transfer to you.
How do you value RSUs and share options?
RSUs are counted at their expected annual vest value (typically total grant / 4 years for a standard cliff-and-vest schedule). Share options are trickier - the calc uses the intrinsic value method (grant size × current strike-vs-market spread, treated as annual vest). You should discount this by 20-40% for private companies, high-volatility public companies, or long vesting cliffs. The 'confidence discount' slider handles this - drag it down for early-stage startups, up for FAANG-tier public equities.
Should I include the tax value of salary sacrifice?
Yes - salary sacrifice pension, EV cars, and cycle-to-work are meaningful tax savings that a base-salary comparison ignores. If you sacrifice £5,000 into a pension, you save ~£2,000 in Income Tax + NI vs paying yourself the £5,000 net. That £2,000 is real money staying in your pocket every year. The calc adds this to the 'true value' figure when you tick the salary sacrifice box.
How is private medical insurance valued?
Employer-paid private medical is a Benefit in Kind - you pay income tax on its cost, but not National Insurance. If your policy costs £1,200/year and you're a higher-rate taxpayer, the actual value to you is around £720 (£1,200 minus 40% tax). If you would otherwise buy the equivalent policy yourself, the value is the full £1,200 saved gross. The calc lets you pick either treatment.
Does more holiday mean more compensation?
Absolutely yes - and it's the most-ignored line item. If your daily rate is £250 (roughly £60k salary), every extra day of paid leave is worth £250 to you. Going from 25 to 30 days moves £1,250/year of value. This calc converts your annual holiday allowance to an equivalent cash figure at your day rate.
What's a realistic total-package uplift over base salary?
Rough UK 2024/25 medians by sector: (1) Public sector: base +25-30% (DC pension employer contrib is huge). (2) Big Tech / Finance: base +40-100% (RSUs dominate). (3) UK SME with just statutory pension: base +5-8%. (4) Consultancy / Big 4: base +15-25% (bonus, medical, pension). Use this calc to see which of your two offers is actually paying more, then negotiate the weaker part of the losing offer.
Not financial or employment advice. Tax and NI rates use 2024/25 UK rules. Employer pension, share-scheme and BiK treatment vary by scheme and employer. Confirm the numbers with your offer letter and P60/P11D. Share values are illustrative — private-company equity is highly speculative.