Employee Cost Calculator
See what an employee costs beyond salary. The workbook includes payroll taxes, benefits, workers’ comp, paid time off, and overhead. It estimates the fully loaded annual cost, monthly cost, and cost per productive hour.
HR advisory · Assessments · Operating tools
Make confident HR decisions with practical tools and experienced guidance.
Get experienced HR advice, take a free assessment, or use editable tools for hiring, managing employees, and making workforce decisions.
How we workA practical approach to decisions that affect your employees.
Research and sourcesReview the sources behind our recommendations.
Clear pricingEvery tool and session has a published price.
Editable filesUse the Word and Excel files with your own business information.
HR Decision GuideTSHR / 2026
Five steps for making an HR decision.
- Define the decision and who it affects.
- Gather the facts and identify what still needs to be confirmed.
- Consider the requirements, evidence, and likely impact.
- Choose your next step.
- Document why you made the decision.
The TrueStep HR standardA practical approach to HR decisions, grounded in facts and reliable sources.
Free Work Style Profile
Understand how you work, make decisions, and relate to others.
Answer 120 research-based questions to explore your work style across five domains and thirty facets. Your personal results appear on screen before you enter an email address. You can also see how the profile is scored.
- 01Complete the profile
About 12 minutes. See your results as soon as you finish.
- 02Understand your results
See your scores across five domains and thirty facets, including how they compare.
- 03Apply what you learn
After completing your profile, explore the $39 Work Style Field Guide or the $69 Manager's Self-Awareness Pack for practical ways to use your results.
Start with the situation
What are you working on?
01
Hire and onboard employees
Plan staffing costs, capacity, interviews, offers, onboarding, and the first 90 days.
→ 02Support your managers
Set expectations, give feedback, improve performance, handle difficult conversations, and build team routines.
→ 03Handle an employee concern
Attendance, complaints, investigations, accommodations, discipline, and exits.
→ 04Calculate the cost of a workforce decision
Labor burden, staffing, turnover, vacancy, overtime, and contingent work.
→ 05Plan pay, raises, and promotions
Pay bands, pay equity, merit increases, pay transparency, job classification, and promotions.
→ 06Review your records and compliance
Records, policies, I-9, wage-hour, leave, and compliance calendars.
→How TrueStep HR can help
Choose the kind of HR support that fits your decision.
01 · Understand
Free assessments and calculators
Get a clearer picture of your work style, workforce costs, or HR practices.
Take the Work Style Profile →02 · Put it to work
Operating tools
Use editable calculators, kits, and guides for day-to-day HR decisions.
Explore operating tools →03 · Talk through your results
Results Debrief · $99
Talk through your assessment results and next steps in a 30-minute session with a senior HR practitioner.
Explore the Results Debrief →04 · Get help setting up your tools
Setup Session · $149
Set up your purchased kit for your business in a one-hour session with a senior HR practitioner.
Explore the Setup Session →05 · Get experienced HR advice
Advisory
Work directly with a senior HR practitioner on a complex decision. We will agree on the scope and fee in writing before work begins.
Request advisory →Take a look inside
Look inside the Employee Cost Calculator.
Preview the files, instructions, and examples included with the calculator before checkout.
- Previews of the files you will receive
- File counts and formats
- Price and checkout link
- What you get and how to get started
Featured tools
Practical tools for everyday HR decisions.
Calculate a workforce cost, work through a difficult decision, or choose a complete set of HR tools.
Discipline and Termination Decision Kit
Review the facts, document your reasoning, and prepare for a discipline or termination conversation.
Complete TrueStep HR System
Seventeen kits and four analytics packs covering the employee lifecycle, from hiring through exit. All 21 sets are organized together for everyday HR work.
$749View details →
The TrueStep HR standard
How we check every TrueStep HR tool.
Before publishing a tool, we review its purpose, verify supporting sources, test formulas, and check usability, accessibility, and presentation. We also record review dates.
Read the published standard- What each tool is designed to do and who it is for
- Primary sources for important factual claims
- Real-world examples and less common situations
- Formulas tested with sample entries
- Editable files and clear instructions
- Keyboard and screen-reader considerations
- Review dates and revision history
The story behind TrueStep HR
It started with a question about turnover.
TrueStep HR began with a question: What does employee turnover actually cost? That first calculator became the starting point for tools covering employee management, workforce costs, and HR decisions.
Every tool goes through our published review standard before release. When a situation calls for more personal guidance, you can work directly with a senior HR practitioner at an agreed fixed fee.
Start with the numbers
See what the numbers tell you.
Explore your workforce costs with a free calculator, review your HR practices with an assessment, or get help setting up a purchased kit in a $149 Setup Session.