Burdened Labour Cost Calculator — Marawood Construction Accounting

What is burdened labour cost?

The true cost of an employee goes well beyond their base wage. Add statutory contributions (CPP, EI, WCB), benefits, and overhead — then adjust for actual productive hours — and the real cost per hour can be 30–60% higher than the wage you write on the cheque.

Why it matters for estimating

If you estimate labour at base wage and bill at base wage, you're losing money on every hour. The effective cost per productive hour is the number that belongs in your estimate — not the wage rate on the pay stub.

Worker Profile

Worker Type

A — Base Compensation

Base Wage Rate?Straight-time hourly wage before any deductions or employer costs.

$/hr

Vacation Pay Rate?Alberta minimum is 4% (2 weeks). Employees with 5+ years are entitled to 6%. Enter as a decimal (e.g. 0.04).

Annual Paid Hours?Standard year = 2,000 hrs (40 hrs × 50 weeks). Camp / fly-in-fly-out schedules may be 2,200+.

hrs/yr

B — Statutory Contributions (2026 Alberta)

Pre-loaded with 2026 Alberta rates. Edit only if your situation differs.

CPP Employer Rate?2026 employer CPP contribution rate: 5.95%. Max pensionable earnings: $74,600.

EI Employer Rate?2026 employer EI rate: 2.282% (employee rate 1.63% × 1.4 multiplier). Max insurable earnings: $68,900.

WCB Rate (per $100 insurable)?Alberta WCB rate varies by industry subcode. Default 1.46 is typical for general construction trades. Max assessable earnings: $110,900 (2026).

per $100

C — Benefits & Allowances (Employer, $/hr)

Health & Welfare Benefit?Employer-paid health, dental, and life insurance premiums. Enter as hourly equivalent.

$/hr

Pension / RRSP Contribution?Defined contribution or RRSP matching. Enter as hourly equivalent or leave at 0 if not applicable.

$/hr

Training & Safety Tickets?First aid, safety certifications, trade tickets. Divide annual cost by annual paid hours.

$/hr

Tool Allowance?Employer-provided tools or tool allowance. Enter hourly equivalent.

$/hr

Camp / Living Out Allowance?For remote projects. Divide daily LOA rate by shift hours to get hourly equivalent.

$/hr

Travel Allowance?Daily travel allowance divided by working hours per day.

$/hr

D — Overhead & Productivity

Overhead / Indirect Burden?Supervision, site admin, small tools, consumables — costs tied to the workforce but not directly to base wages. Typically 8–15%.

Productivity Factor?Not every paid hour is a fully productive billed hour. Breaks, toolbox talks, travel between tasks, minor delays. Typical range: 0.80–0.92. A factor of 0.85 means 85% of paid hours are productive.

factor

True Labour Cost

Base Wage

—

per hour

Burdened Cost

—

before productivity adj.

Effective Cost

—

per productive hour

Burden Multiplier

—

× base wage

Cost Breakdown

Labour Rate for Job Costing & Estimating

Target Margin on Labour?The margin you want to earn on billable labour time. Applied on top of the effective hourly cost.

20%

Minimum Acceptable Margin?Your floor on competitive bids. The lowest margin you would accept on labour time.

—

True Cost Floor?The effective hourly cost — your absolute minimum. Billing below this means you are losing money on every hour worked.

—

per hour — cost only

Minimum Billable Rate?Effective cost plus minimum acceptable margin. Use this on very competitive bids — it is your floor.

—

per hour — minimum bid

Target Estimating Rate?The rate to use in your estimates and job costing system. This is what you put in your bid for this worker's time.

—

per hour — use in estimates

Next Steps — Marawood Construction Accounting

Your labour cost is only one piece of the puzzle

Know your numbers. Price every job with confidence.

Getting labour cost right is foundational — but it only works if your overhead recovery, markup, and job costing system are aligned with it. Marawood works with Alberta contractors to build the financial structure that turns accurate numbers into profitable jobs.

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