The U.S. Department of Labor estimates a bad hire costs about 30% of the employee's first-year salary. Once you add lost productivity, management time, and rehiring, the real number for a typical small-business role lands around $17,000 or more.

Add four things: recruiting and advertising, the salary you paid for subpar work, the management hours spent coaching and documenting, and the cost to rehire and retrain a replacement. This calculator runs that math for you in about 60 seconds.

Any hire who leaves or is let go inside the first year, or who stays but performs well below what the role needs. Both cost you money, and both usually trace back to the hiring process, not the person.

Yes. It's completely free with no email required. Enter the salary, how long the person stayed, and a couple of details, and you'll see the real cost instantly.