fringe benefits

Compensation for employees that is in addition to salaries and wages. Examples include paid absences (vacation, sick, holiday), insurances (health, dental, vision, life), pensions, profit sharing contributions, employer matching of Social Security and Medicare taxes, unemployment taxes, worker compensation insurance, continuing education costs, etc. Generally, the cost of fringe benefits should be expensed when they are earned by the employee, not in the period in which they are paid.