Employee Benefit Rates

The Employee Benefit Rates are established for each fiscal year ("FY") and distributed by the Office of Budgets and Finance when they are finalized.

The University negotiates fringe benefit rates with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). These rates apply to Grants and Contracts, but rates charged internally for all wages in each Compensation Type can be no lower than the approved rates.

The rates are uniformly applied for accounting purposes by compensation type, not based on the actual benefits utilized by individual employees. The fringe benefits charge to the department cannot be waived or reduced based on individual employee SMU-provided benefits.

The benefit charges are booked to the same org as the employee’s wages but under a different account code.

There is an equalization done by the Office of Budgets and Finance at the end of the fiscal year for most unrestricted funds.

Any questions about Employee Benefit Rates should be directed to Linda Sutton by email to lsutton@smu.edu or telephone at (214) 768-4230.

The FY 2025 Employee Benefit Rates are effective for wages paid on paychecks issued between 06/01/2024 and 05/31/2025:

The FY 2024 Employee Benefit Rates are effective for wages paid on paychecks issued between 06/01/2023 and 05/31/2024: