A paid member of staff being off is not always the extra cost. The question is what you spend to cover the gap.
The hourly cover rate must include any relevant employer on-costs. Paid leave and normal sick pay already budgeted in basic payroll should not be added again.
| Staff group | Staff | Sick days / person | Holiday days / person | Hours per cover day | Cover £/hr | Extra cost / year | Remove |
|---|
Equivalent per month: £0. This is the extra replacement-cover bill under your assumptions, not an estimate of the full value of lost staff time or your total payroll.
Unfilled shifts, management time, room closures, missed revenue, sickness pay not already budgeted, or any impact on safe staffing. Use the EYFS staffing requirements separately when deciding whether cover is needed.
Using the numbers
Use the figures as a starting point for a real business decision, with your own assumptions and evidence.
01 / How to use the calculator
02 / Worked example
Illustration: Two staff members are each absent for six eight-hour days. If all those hours need replacement at £16 per hour, the cover spend is £1,536 (2 × 6 × 8 × £16), before any additional on-costs.
This is the replacement spend. It does not mean the original employees’ normal wages are an additional cost unless your actual circumstances make them so.
03 / Interpreting the result
Absence does not always require one-for-one replacement. You must still maintain safe staffing, required qualifications and ratios. The model helps you price the hours you genuinely need to cover, rather than assume every absence automatically means an agency shift.
Record whether cover costs include agency fees, employer on-costs and overtime premiums to keep comparisons consistent.
Official reference: EYFS statutory framework (England)
Content reviewed 29 October 2026. Recheck rates, funding rules and your assumptions before making a decision.
Questions owners ask
No. The additional cost is usually the cost of replacement cover above your planned payroll. Statutory or contractual sick pay may affect the underlying payroll, but avoid double-counting.
Only where the resulting staffing still meets EYFS ratios, supervision, qualifications and safe operation requirements.
Yes. Model known periods of leave separately from unpredictable sickness to compare bank, overtime and agency approaches.