Employee Fringe Benefits
Composite Benefit Rates (CBR)
Proposal budgets requesting project personnel salaries and wages must also request the fringe benefit costs associated with the salaries and wages.UCI transitioned to Composite Benefit Rates (CBR) for proposals and revised budgets on November 18, 2018. The composite benefit rate is an average cost of benefits for an employee group, where groups are defined by attributes such as benefit eligibility, employee class, exempt and non-exempt status, and job code. Benefits will be charged based on the CBRs for their employee group(s).  CBR’s are fixed for the entire fiscal year and adjusted on an annual basis.Â
Proposal Budgets
Fringe benefit costs for salaries and wages included in extramural proposal budgets should be calculated by multiplying the salary by the applicable CBR and vacation leave accrual assessment. The UCRP interest assessment should also be included if the funding source is non-federal. To assist in the proposal budget development process, rate tables and examples are provided below. If you are unable to determine the appropriate appointment from the CBR rate table below, please use the tools and resources provided on the Accounting Office's Composite Benefit Rates website to determine the appropriate CBR.
Rate Table
Looking for Prior Rates?
| Employee Groups | Campus Rates | Estimated Rates (for C&G) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY25 | FY26 | FY27 | FY28 | FY29 | FY30 | |
| For Employees with Full Benefits | ||||||
| Faculty | 33.70% | 36.4% | 37.87% | 40.14% | 42.55% | 45.10% |
| Other Academic | 45.40% | 46.3% | 49.39% | 51.51% | 53.73% | 56.04% |
| Post Doc | 22.80% | 21.4% | 24.19% | 24.91% | 25.66% | 26.43% |
| HCOMP Faculty/Physician (MSP)/Nurse/Law Faculty/Police | 27.60% | 30.5% | 31.01% | 32.87% | 34.84% | 36.94% |
| Staff Exempt | 45.40% | 46.3% | 49.39% | 51.51% | 53.73% | 56.04% |
| Staff Non-Exempt | 51.60% | 52.1% | 56.46% | 59.05% | 61.77% | 64.61% |
| Food-Custodian-Grounds-Building Maintenance Workers | 51.60% | 52.1% | 56.46% | 59.05% | 61.77% | 64.61% |
| For Employees with Less than Full Benefits and Students | ||||||
| Faculty Summer Salary | 8.70% | 10.4% | 10.70% | 11.87% | 13.16% | 14.59% |
| Students and Employees with No Eligibility | 2.30% | 2.5% | 2.44% | 2.51% | 2.59% | 2.67% |
| Partial Benefit Eligibility | 2.30% | 2.5% | 2.44% | 2.51% | 2.59% | 2.67% |
Vacation Leave Accruals
Vacation leave accruals are excluded from the Composite Benefit Rate and should be assessed on all fund sources according to the table below:
| Vacation Accrual Rates | |
|---|---|
| Fiscal Year Faculty | 7.5% |
| Accruing Staff & Non-Faculty Academics | 7.5% |
| Non-Accruing Staff & Academic Year Faculty | 0.0% |
Example: Project Scientist CBR (FY25) 45.40% + 7.5% (Accruing Staff and Non Faculty Academics) = Benefit rate of 52.90%
UCRP Interest Assessment (for non-federal sources only):
The University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) interest assessment is excluded from the Composite Benefit Rate and should be assessed on all non-federal fund sources according to the following table:
| Fiscal Year | UCRP Assessment Rates |
|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 0.77% |
| 2020-2021 | 0.30% |
| 2021-2022 | 0.30% |
| 2022-2023 | 0.30% |
| 2023-2024 | 0.68% |
Example: Project Scientist CBR (FY25) 45.40% + 7.5% (vacation leave accrual) + .68% UCRP interest assessment = Benefit Rate of 53.58%
Guidance, Resources, and Tools
Additional Guidance and resources are available on the Accounting Office's Composite Benefit Rates webpage.