Bill Rate

A bill rate is the hourly amount a staffing agency charges its client for a placed worker's time — as distinct from the pay rate the worker actually receives.

The bill rate is always higher than the worker's pay rate. The gap covers the agency's costs of employing the worker — payroll taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, any benefits — plus recruiting overhead and profit.

The relationship between the two is usually expressed as a markup. If a worker is paid a given hourly wage and the agency applies a markup, the bill rate is the pay rate multiplied by one plus that markup.

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