Entering the overhead percentage, also known as labor burden, helps BuildKeeper calculate the true cost of employing someone when running job cost reports.

As an example, let's assume Jim is paid $15 per hour. The additional costs tied directly to employing Jim full-time annually are as follows:

• $40 for company-branded shirts
• $180 in small tools and equipment
• $240 of employer-paid snacks and meals
• $300 for training fees, seminars, etc.
• $500 for the estimated annual bonus
• $1,500 in holiday and sick pay
• $2,400 in payroll taxes
• $3,800 in workers’ comp insurance
  -----------------------------------------------------------
     $8960 Total additional employee costs

To calculate the overhead percentage:

1. Divide the total additional employee costs by 2080 (the total number of work hours in a year).
          $8960 / 2080 hours = $4.31
2. Divide the amount calculated in step 1 by the employee's pay rate.
          $4.31 / $15.00 = 0.2873
3. Multiply the result in step 2 by 100.
          0.2871 x 100 = 28.71%

This percent doesn't have to be exact, but it should be a conservative estimate so that BuildKeeper can reasonably calculate actual employment costs.