The following fringe benefit rates will become effective July 1, 2011 for the doctoral cluster institutions (UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee) and for UW-Extension, and will be used when charging the employer’s contribution to fringe benefits on all new and on-going extramural projects.

Rates are based on the actual costs of benefits paid during the fiscal year July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. The large increases in Faculty, Academic Staff,
and Classified fringe rates are attributable to two key factors. Increases to health insurance and retirement costs, along with adjustments to capture previous years' under-recovery of actual costs resulted in higher rates for this period.

In addition, salaries for the calculation period were reduced due to mandatory furloughs. Higher fringe costs applied to smaller salary bases magnified the increase in the rates.

Recently, there have been discussions and proposed legislation regarding changes to employer and employee payments of fringe benefit costs.  Because the rates are based on actual charges paid in the prior fiscal year, any impact of these changes to the fringe benefit rates will not be seen until future year rates are calculated.

The specific components for each rate are detailed in a schedule that has been published at: https://rsp.wisc.edu/chap4/rn/rn11-3t.html.

We appreciate your assistance in assuring that all projects with an anticipated beginning date of July 1, 2011 or later utilize the above rates.