Are the care worker presets official salary statistics?

No. Unless a particular source and effective date are explicitly identified, role labels and prefilled amounts are editable planning examples, not verified market medians, an employer pay award or an individual entitlement. Use your current contract, pay statement or actual business records.

Why might the result differ from my payslip or tax return?

This is an annual estimate. Actual results depend on your UK jurisdiction, tax code, pension method, pensionable earnings, loan notices, other income and the timing of payments. Payroll rounding, arrears, benefits and irregular pay can change the result. A self-employed or partnership arrangement also needs its own profit and National Insurance treatment.

Does a professional fee or expense always reduce my tax?

No. Check the applicable HMRC conditions, the amount you actually paid and whether your employer reimbursed it. A deduction normally reduces taxable income rather than producing a pound-for-pound repayment. Do not claim the same cost twice.

2026/27 role-specific pay planning

Care Worker salary and take-home pay

Paid travel time, sleep-ins and mileage. Use the specialist inputs below to compare your actual contract or working arrangement.

By AfterTaxUK Editorial Team · Method and source guidance reviewed 26 October 2026

Use your own figures. Presets are planning examples unless a specific published scale and effective date are cited. They are not a verified salary survey. Confirm current pay, allowances, expense eligibility and pension deductions with your employer, scheme or records.

Adult Social Care & Support Pay Engine

Care Worker Salary & Take-Home Pay Calculator (2026/27)

Model your contractual hourly pay, sleep-in allowances, business mileage reimbursement, uniform laundry tax relief, and PAYE payslip deductions.

Select Common Care Role Profile:

1. Hourly Rate & Contracted HoursStandard UK week

Hourly Base Care Wage (£/hour):£12.25 / hr

Benchmarks:NLW: £11.44Real Living Wage: £12.60London Living: £13.85

Contracted Hours per Week:35 hours (1820 hrs/yr)

Overtime Hours (per week):

hrs

Overtime Pay Rate:

2. Sleep-In Shift Allowances (Overnight)Contractual shift pay

Sleep-In Shifts (per month):0 shifts (0/yr)

Allowance per Sleep-In (£):£55.00 / shift

3. Domiciliary Mileage & Travel AllowanceHMRC AMAP 55p / 25p Rules

Client Travel Miles (per month):200 miles/mo

Employer Mileage Rate:30p per mile

Tax-Free Reimbursement from Employer:+£60.00 / mo (£720.00 / yr)

✨ HMRC P87 Tax Relief You Can Claim Back:+£120.00 / yr (£10.00/mo)

For eligible business travel in your own car or goods vehicle, the 2026/27 approved Income Tax amount is 55p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter. An unreimbursed shortfall can attract Income Tax relief; it is not a cash refund of the whole mileage amount. Only permitted tax-free reimbursement is included here; excess payments need separate payroll treatment.

4. Pension, Uniform Tax Relief & Tax Settings

Workplace Pension Auto-Enrolment:

Tax Jurisdiction:

Student Loan Plan:

Uniform Laundry Relief (£125/yr)Section 367 ITEPA flat-rate deduction saves £25/yr in tax.

Payslip Take-Home Payper month

£1,714.93

Gross: £2,056.98•Take-home rate: 83.4%

Total In-Pocket Cash (inc. Mileage & P87):£1,784.93

Includes £60.00 tax-free mileage + £10.00 P87 tax rebate.

Net Pay Income Tax Class 1 NI Pension

Itemised Payslip Breakdown (per month)Tax Code 1257L

Standard Contract Pay (35h/wk):£1,857.92

Overtime Pay (3h/wk @ 1.25x):+£199.06

Total Gross Taxable Earnings:£2,056.98

PAYE Income Tax:-£184.44

Class 1 National Insurance:-£80.76

Workplace Pension (5%):-£76.85

Total Statutory Deductions:-£342.05

Net Payslip Take-Home:£1,714.93

+ Tax-Free Mileage Expenses (Paid):+£60.00

+ HMRC P87 Mileage Relief (Claimable):+£10.00

Total Cash to Pocket:£1,784.93

Care Worker Tax Rights & Allowances:

Section 367 Uniform Relief: Active. Gives £125/yr flat rate allowance for washing your own scrubs or tunic (saves ~£25/yr tax).
HMRC AMAP Mileage: The 2026/27 approved Income Tax amount is 55p for the first 10,000 eligible business miles and 25p thereafter. Relief on an unreimbursed shortfall depends on your taxable income.
Travel Time Law: Under Regulation 34 of the NMW Regulations 2015, travel time between home care clients must be included when checking minimum wage compliance.

What matters in this pay comparison?

Paid travel time, sleep-ins and mileage

Build pay from contracted hours, overtime and separately paid sleep-in shifts. Pay for time travelling between assignments is different from reimbursement of vehicle costs.

Check your actual contractual arrangements and minimum-wage position. The tool’s travel and sleep-in examples cannot decide whether a particular hour must be paid.

Check the basis before comparing offers

Use the same year, working hours and paid weeks. An hourly rate, full-time equivalent salary, day rate and actual annual receipts are different inputs.
Check pension method and pensionable pay. Net-pay pensions generally reduce Income Tax but do not reduce employee NI or student-loan earnings; salary sacrifice can affect all three.
Separate cash received from non-cash benefits, reimbursements and deferred awards. Eligibility for a tax deduction is a separate question from whether a payment is taxable.

A reproducible reference calculation

This is an illustrative annual employment salary of £30,000.00, not a typical salary for this occupation or the specialist calculator’s default. It assumes England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the standard Personal Allowance, no other income, no pension contribution and no student loan.

Annual gross salary: £30,000.00
Income Tax: £3,486.00
Employee National Insurance: £1,394.40
Annual net estimate: £25,119.60
Monthly average: £2,093.30

Increasing the annual salary by £1,000 in this reference case increases annual net income by £720.00. This change is calculated from both complete estimates, so it captures any allowance taper or tax-band crossing.

The reference uses annualised employee NI thresholds. Your actual pay-period NI and payroll rounding can differ. Scotland requires its devolved Income Tax calculation.

Sources and checks for your own contract

Use the tax sources for the calculation rules and the role or scheme authority for the applicable working arrangement. A link to tax guidance does not verify an employer salary, a market median or every preset.

Rates are labelled for 2026/27; pay awards and scheme rules can have different effective dates. For a discrepancy, send the page and calculation assumptions to our corrections contact.

Care Worker pay questions

Check the pay structure, not just the headline number.

Build pay from contracted hours, overtime and separately paid sleep-in shifts. Pay for time travelling between assignments is different from reimbursement of vehicle costs. Check your actual contractual arrangements and minimum-wage position. The tool’s travel and sleep-in examples cannot decide whether a particular hour must be paid.

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