Benefit Charges

Introduction

This policy provides a coordinated approach to the payment of employee benefits.

Policy

Benefits on salaries are decentralized, meaning benefits are charged to the individual FOAPALs from which an employee’s salary is paid. This applies to all fund types (general operating, research, special purpose, ancillary, external, etc.).

To ensure the accuracy of salary and benefits charges, employees must be assigned to the appropriate fund and organization.

Consequences for Noncompliance

If employees are not assigned to the appropriate fund and organization, salary and benefit charges are charged to the incorrect FOAPAL resulting in incorrect financial reporting and budget decision making.

Processes

Operating Funds

1. At the beginning of each fiscal year, a benefits budget is provided to each unit for each position (budgeted and unbudgeted). This budget is calculated based upon the benefits to salary ratio from the prior year. This benefits budget is not changed for the duration of the fiscal year (i.e. as salary budgets change during the year, benefits budgets are not updated). 
2. At year end, the benefits budgets are adjusted to equal the actual benefits expenditures that have been charged to the individual units. This prevents the unit from having any surplus or deficit relating to benefits for the purposes of the year end carryforward calculation.

Exceptions

1. Certain cost recovery units such as CCE, Institut français, Canada Research Chairs, etc. do not have their benefit budgets adjusted to equal actual expenditures. These types of units are responsible for any overall surplus or deficit.

Non-Operating Funds

Non-operating funds (research, special purpose, external, ancillary, etc.) are not provided with any benefits budget. Actual benefit expenditures are charged directly to the FOAPALs for these types of funds and any surplus or deficit resulting from benefit charges is the responsibility of those units.

Grant Applications and Secondments

For grant applications and secondments where there is an agreement with an external organization to pay salary costs, benefit charges are to be included.

External Party Billing

1. When billing external parties for salaries and benefits, the salary recovery is to be credited to the FOAPAL where the salary was charged.
2. The associated benefits are to be credited to the FOAPAL where the benefits were charged (Account Code 6080). For example, salary expenditures that were charged to the General Operating Fund 10000-1010-6026 have the associated benefits credited to FOAPAL 10000-1010-6080.

Related Information

• Financial Services – FOAPALS