Cost per hour is calculated as follows:

Cost per hour = Hourly wage x Wage cost factor

The cost per hour consists of two components: the hourly wage and the wage cost factor. Both are explained below.

For a fixed-hours contract, the hourly wage is derived from the gross monthly salary:

Hourly wage = (Monthly salary x 12) / 52 / Full-time hours per week

The gross full-time salary per month.

The full-time norm of the location (38 or 40 hours).

For on-call contracts, the hourly wage is not calculated, but taken directly from their gross hourly wage.

The wage cost factor is a multiplier that indicates how much the employer pays on top of the gross hourly wage for holiday allowance, social security contributions, pension, and other employer costs.

Wage cost factor = Total employer costs / Gross wage

The factor is calculated per payroll period. The average over the last 6 months is then used. Only data from Soigné is used in this calculation. For new employees (no payslips yet), the default value is 1.

Data from previous payroll systems (such as Nmbrs, AFAS, or Loket) is not taken into account.

The gross wage is the sum of the following components:

The total employer costs include everything the employer actually pays:

Employer costs like holiday allowance for fixed contracts are spread over the year. The employer costs therefor do not suddenly increase in the holiday allowance payout month (often May).

The total cost of an attendance is calculated based on the minutes worked:

Attendance cost = Minutes worked x Cost per hour / 60

An employee with an hourly wage of €15,00 and a wage cost factor of 1,35:

Cost per hour = 1,35 x €15,00 = €20,25

For an 8-hour shift (480 minutes):

Attendance cost = 480 x €20,25 / 60 = €162,00

The value shown is always based on today's data. It uses the employee's current hourly wage combined with the most recent wage cost factor.

On the employee profile, the cost per hour is shown as a metric. Because it is sensitive information, it is hidden by default. Click the eye icon to reveal or hide the value. This metric is only visible to managers with employment read access.

The cost per hour can differ when comparing different periods. There are several reasons for this:

If you recently started using Soigne, there is only a limited amount of payroll history to calculate the wage cost factor from.

For example, after your first month the factor is based on just that single period rather than a full 6-month average. This means the cost per hour may be less representative in the beginning.

As more payroll periods are processed within Soigne, the factor will gradually become more accurate. After 6 months of payroll data, the wage cost factor fully reflects your actual employer costs.

If an employee receives a salary increase, the hourly wage changes immediately. This directly affects the cost per hour from that moment forward.

The wage cost factor is an average over the last 6 months of payroll data. As new payroll periods are processed, older periods drop out of the window. For example, if a month with unusually high employer costs (such as a bonus payout or holiday allowance) falls out of the 6-month range, the average factor will decrease, and vice versa.

During periods of sickness or leave, the employee receives a reduced salary (e.g. 70% during sickness). Most employer costs, social security, pension, vacation allowance, and HOP, are percentage-based and decrease proportionally with the reduced wage. However, fixed contributions such as meal allowances, bicycle schemes, or company car/housing contributions remain the same regardless of sickness. Because these fixed amounts are spread over a lower gross wage, the wage cost factor for that period will be slightly higher.

For example: an employee earns €2,000 gross per month, with €560 in proportional employer costs (social security, pension, etc.) and €40 in fixed contributions (meal allowance). The wage cost factor is €2,600 / €2,000 = 1.30. Now the employee becomes sick and receives 70% pay: €1,400 gross. The proportional costs drop to €392, but the fixed €40 stays the same. The wage cost factor for that month becomes €1,832 / €1,400 = 1.31.

The effect is small, but it is intentional, the cost per hour reflects what the employer actually pays. Once the sick month drops out of the 6-month window, the cost per hour returns to its previous level.

Social security rates, pension premiums, or other employer contributions can change, for example at the start of a new year. These changes affect the total employer costs in the wage cost factor calculation.