Departments pay a flat percent based on salaries or earnings paid instead of paying actual employer contributions. Amounts collected from departments go into a fringe benefits pool. The 2025-2026 fringe benefit rates are below:
| Type | Percent |
|---|---|
| Administrative /Non-COM Faculty | 36.74% |
| COM Faculty | 26.91% |
| Staff | 48.90% |
| Overtime | 29.09% |
| Other Temporary and Temp Faculty | 4.81% |
| Graduate Student Assistants | 8.18% |
| Student Employees | 0.00% |
| Federal Work Study Employees | 0.00% |
| Miscellaneous Allowances and Other Earnings | 7.65% |
These rates are applied to salaries or earnings paid, regardless of the FTE. The fringe benefits amounts are charged to the project/activity number where the salaries or earnings. As an example, for a $1,000 bonus (considered “Other Earnings”), the project/activity number will also be charged $76.50.
The Fringe Benefits Pool covers the actual employer contributions for Social Security, Medicare, retirement, health insurance, and life insurance, in addition to paying the university’s unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation premiums. Other benefits paid directly by the pool include:
- Tuition waivers
- Vacation payouts
- Sick leave payouts
- Salaries for employees on parental leave
- Salaries for employees on sabbatical or educational leave
- Salaries after 30 days for employees on FMLA or medical leave (departments pay the first 30 days)
The pool does not cover compensatory time payouts or notice period payouts/severance. These types of payouts are covered directly by the department.