What Is Employer Cost?
Definition
Employer Cost: What an employee costs the employer each month: the gross salary plus the employer's own social insurance premiums and payroll charges. It is always higher than the gross salary.
Employer cost is an employee’s total monthly cost to the employer. It is the gross salary plus the premiums and charges the employer pays on top of it, such as its own share of social insurance. It is the figure a company budgets for a position, and it is always higher than the gross salary the employee sees.
Where it appears in the formulas
The gross to net salary calculator uses employer cost = gross + employer SGK + employer unemployment premium, both premiums up to the earnings ceiling. A state discount on the employer’s premium, where one exists, lowers the cost.
In Türkiye
Employer cost is the gross salary plus the employer’s social security premium and unemployment insurance premium. Employers that qualify get a Treasury discount on their social security share (Law 5510 art. 81). In 2026 the employer SGK share is 12% long-term, 2.25% short-term and 7.5% health insurance, and the unemployment share 2%; the Treasury discount is 2 points in general and 5 points in manufacturing (Law 7566 art. 23). On the 2026 minimum wage, with the 2-point discount, the cost is 40,214.03 TRY a month (ÇSGB 2026 table).