Set fringes up per person, not per budget
The fastest way to get fringes wrong is one blended percentage across the whole budget. A non-union PA, a SAG-AFTRA day player, a DGA director, and an IATSE grip each generate a different stack of employer costs, and two of those stacks stop at wage caps partway through the year. Budgeting software handles this with a fringe table: each fringe gets a code, a rate or hourly amount, and a cutoff, and each labor line gets the codes that apply to that person.
Here's a fringe table for a mixed show. Rates marked "example" are placeholders for your payroll company's quote.
| Code | Fringe | Rate | Cutoff | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FICA | Social Security, employer | 6.2% | $184,500 per person (2026) | All payroll employees |
| MED | Medicare, employer | 1.45% | None | All payroll employees |
| FUTA | Federal unemployment, net | 0.6% | $7,000 per person | All payroll employees |
| SUI | State unemployment | 3.4% (example) | State wage base | All payroll employees |
| WC | Workers' comp | 3.0% (example) | None | All payroll employees |
| HF | Payroll handling fee | 0.5% (example) | None | All payroll employees |
| DGA | DGA pension, health, parental leave | 22.5% | $300,000 pension, $520,000 health (theatrical) | DGA members |
| IA | IATSE hourly contributions plus IAP | Per hour | None | IATSE members |
| SAG | SAG-AFTRA P&H | Per rate sheet | Per agreement | Performers |
The federal numbers are from the IRS. Social Security is 6.2% for the employer, with a 2026 wage base of $184,500; Medicare is 1.45% with no wage base. FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 paid to each employee, and employers who pay state unemployment in full can take a credit of up to 5.4%, leaving 0.6%.
A non-union week, worked out
A non-union 1st AC earns $2,400 for a week in March, the first week she's worked for this employer this year.
| Fringe | Rate | On $2,400 |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.20% | $148.80 |
| Medicare | 1.45% | $34.80 |
| FUTA | 0.60% | $14.40 |
| SUI (example) | 3.40% | $81.60 |
| Workers' comp (example) | 3.00% | $72.00 |
| Handling fee (example) | 0.50% | $12.00 |
| Total | 15.15% | $363.60 |
Check it: $2,400 x 0.1515 = $363.60, so the week costs production $2,763.60.
Now the cutoff. FUTA only applies to her first $7,000. At $2,400 a week she crosses it in week 3: weeks 1 and 2 each carry $14.40, week 3 carries 0.6% of the remaining $2,200, which is $13.20, and weeks 4 onward carry nothing. Total FUTA: $14.40 + $14.40 + $13.20 = $42.00, the annual maximum. State unemployment behaves the same way with the state's own wage base. On a long shoot, fringes that ignore cutoffs overstate the budget, and a production accountant will reset them in the first cost report.
SAG-AFTRA: a percentage of gross
SAG-AFTRA pension and health contributions are a percentage of the performer's gross compensation, including overtime. The percentage depends on the agreement and the date, so it comes from the rate sheet for the contract you sign, and it changes. Two current examples:
- Under the 2025 Commercials Contract, the contribution rate went from 20.5% to 23.5%, with a reduced 19.95% rate for companies that are JPC authorizers, according to SAG-AFTRA's help center.
- The 2026 TV/Theatrical Memorandum of Agreement raises the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan contribution rate by one percentage point, effective July 1, 2026 or the first Sunday 90 days after ratification notice, whichever is later. It also raises the contribution to the merged pension plan by one point effective July 1, 2028, contingent on the SAG and AFTRA plans completing their merger.
That second item means a feature shooting across the effective date has two P&H rates in the same budget. Split the cast fringe by date if you have performers working on both sides of it. Our pension and health entry keeps the current theatrical percentages.
DGA: a percentage with ceilings
The DGA's 2026 to 2027 rate card sets employer contributions at 8.75% to the pension plan and 13.5% to the health plan, plus 0.25% to the health plans for paid parental leave. The same figures apply under the Theatrical Low Budget Sideletter. For theatrical motion pictures the pension ceiling is $300,000 and the health ceiling is $520,000. The employee's own 2.5% pension contribution comes out of their pay, so it isn't a production cost.
| Director fee | Pension 8.75% | Health 13.5% | Parental leave 0.25% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $5,250 | $8,100 | $150 | $13,500 |
| $600,000 | $26,250 (on $300,000) | $70,200 (on $520,000) | $1,300 (on $520,000) | $97,750 |
On the $60,000 fee, 22.5% applies to the whole amount. On the $600,000 fee, the ceilings cap it at $97,750, not the $135,000 you'd get from 22.5% of $600,000. The same fringe code set up without cutoffs would overbudget that director by $37,250.
IATSE: dollars per hour
IATSE Basic Agreement benefits don't scale with the rate at all. They're dollar amounts for each hour worked or guaranteed, and which amount applies depends on whether the employer qualifies as a "$15 Million Contributor" to the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans. Most independent producers don't. From the 2024 Basic Agreement:
| Contribution | Non-$15M contributor | $15M contributor | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Plan | $12.773 per hour | $8.003 per hour | Aug. 2, 2026 to July 31, 2027 |
| Pension Plan | $1.8065 per hour | $1.8065 per hour | Aug. 1, 2024 to July 31, 2027 |
| Retired Employees Fund | $0.86 per hour | $0.30 per hour | Aug. 4, 2024 to July 31, 2027 |
| Individual Account Plan | 6% of scale basic hourly rate | 6% of scale basic hourly rate | Aug. 1, 2024 to July 31, 2027 |
Take a grip hired by a non-$15M producer on a 60-hour weekly guarantee, with an example scale rate of $50 an hour (use the actual local wage scale).
- Hourly contributions: $12.773 + $1.8065 + $0.86 = $15.4395 per hour, x 60 hours = $926.37
- IAP: $50 x 0.06 x 60 hours = $180.00
- Benefits for the week: $926.37 + $180.00 = $1,106.37
Drop the guarantee to 50 hours and the same grip generates $771.98 + $150.00 = $921.98. That's why a schedule that adds an hour a day raises fringes even when rates don't change, and why the overtime calculator is worth running before hours are locked. Payroll taxes still apply on top of the grip's wages. Low budget IATSE agreements have their own terms; see the IATSE Low Budget Theatrical Agreement post.
What stays out of the fringe base
Fringes belong on wages, including overtime and premiums. Leave these out:
- Per diem paid under an accountable plan at or below the federal rate. IRS Publication 463 treats amounts above the federal rate as wages, so only the excess would carry payroll tax. See film crew per diem.
- Kit and box rentals and equipment rented from crew, which are rent payments.
- Payments to a loan-out company, which carry no employer payroll taxes because the loan-out is the employer. Union benefit contributions are still owed for covered work.
- Purchases, reimbursements, and petty cash.
A department with $40,000 in labor, $6,000 in kit rentals, and $4,000 in per diem has a fringe base of $40,000, not $50,000. At 15.15% that's $6,060, not $7,575, a $1,515 difference on one account.
Getting the numbers into the budget
Ask your payroll company for a written rate quote per state and union during prep, and build the fringe table from it. Put each fringe on the lines it applies to, set the cutoffs, and date the table so the next draft knows which quote it used. The film budget template has a fringe setup block you can adapt.
Storiara's budget shows fringes in their own column. Its estimates use tiered below-the-line and cast fringe percentages, or a contract fringe from its union data, and every line can be edited, so replace those estimates with your payroll company's quote before the budget goes to anyone who will fund it.