[esotericn]

If someone says "I earn 50K" in the UK then they mean that's their salary after employer NI but before income tax and employee NI. The cost to the employer (in straight cash terms, not including related stuff like a desk, computer, etc etc) is more than that figure.

It's not fully pre-tax, but we call it pre-tax, just pointing that out.

[foldr]

Ok, but that doesn't seem to have anything to do with US/UK pay disparities. US pay also doesn't include all the taxes and other expenses being paid by the employer in relation the the employee. E.g., the employer's portion of the health insurance premiums won't be included.