Free tool

Prevailing Wage Fringe Benefit Credit Calculator

Enter the rates from your wage determination and what you spend on each worker's benefits. The calculator annualizes each benefit, caps the credit at the fringe, and shows how much fringe you still owe in cash.

Your inputs

Start with one worker. Example numbers are filled in.

Wage determination
$
$
Hours
Annual employer-paid benefits
$
$
$
$

Your results

Credit per hour for each benefit, based on the hours you entered.

Health insurance
Retirement
Paid time off
Other benefits
Total benefit credit
Credit you can use (capped at the fringe)
Fringe still owed in cash
Cash rate on prevailing wage hours
Full package rate
Fringe covered by benefits

How the fringe benefit credit works

A prevailing wage determination sets two numbers for each trade, a base hourly rate and a fringe hourly rate. The base rate always has to be paid in cash. The fringe can be met with cash, with bona fide benefits the company pays for, or with a mix of both, and the value of those benefits per hour is the fringe benefit credit.

The credit is calculated by annualizing each benefit. You take what the company spends on the benefit over a full year and divide it by every hour the worker works in that year, including private jobs. That keeps the credit steady week to week and keeps it from being overstated, because a benefit that covers all of a worker's hours can't be credited only against the prevailing wage hours.

  • Only employer-paid, bona fide benefits count, such as health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off.
  • Payroll taxes, workers' comp, and the worker's own retirement deferral don't count.
  • The credit can never be more than the fringe, so it can never reduce the base wage.
  • Recalculate whenever the wage determination changes or a benefit changes.
  • Overtime is generally figured on the base rate, not on the fringe.

Requirements vary between federal Davis-Bacon work and each state's prevailing wage law, so confirm the rules for your project with the agency that issued the wage determination.

This calculator is for estimating only and isn't legal or payroll advice. Results depend on the information you enter.

Want a CPA to handle your certified payroll?

Prophet Accounting prepares certified payroll and job costing for construction subcontractors on prevailing wage and public work.

See how we work with subcontractors Call (772) 380-2871