MSU Controller's Office

Financial and Cost Analysis

Fringe Benefit Charges

The Office of Financial and Cost Analysis is responsible for setting the charges used for recovering the cost of employee fringe benefits.

Michigan State University uses the specific identification (SI) fringe benefit model to recover the cost of fringe benefits from employing departments. This method will be applied to all MSU accounts, excluding General Fund (11-xxxx) which will remain funded centrally. Under this model, costs are specifically identified into four categories and will be distributed to the employee’s base salary (SAL, CTS , REG and TSS). The categories are:

  1. Health/dental/Rx will be charged via a fixed dollar amount if employee is eligible for health benefits. The amount charged will correlate with employee’s level of effort (full-time, ¾, or 1/2 ).
  2. MSU retirement (10%) if the employee is eligible AND participates.
  3. Miscellaneous category (2.1%) which includes unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, long-term disability, longevity, life insurance, and employee tuition reimbursement.
  4. FICA 7.65% up to salary cap and 1.45% thereafter.

Payroll types other than base and those employees working less than 50% will only be charged FICA as appropriate.

NOTE: Grand parenting ends effective 6/30/07. Recall that for research accounts, 61-0000 - 61-9999, fringe grand parenting was created (three years ago) to provide time for those projects that were originally budgeted using the old salary rate-based fringe system to prepare for the conversion to the SI fringe system. With the first payroll of 2007-08 (July 13, 2007), these accounts will now follow all SI fringe rules. Please contact Contracts & Grants with any questions.

If further clarification is needed, please call Sue VanCamp at 355-5029, ext. 8 or send an email to: vancamps@ctlr.msu.edu.

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