Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Wilkes University provides a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program that allows employees to have pre-tax dollars deducted from their salaries to pay for eligible out-of-pocket expenses. The pre-tax contributions made to the FSA can be used to pay for predictable non-reimbursed health care expenses and dependent care expenses during the plan year. Through the FSA program, you can reduce your taxable income without reducing your real income, so that you can keep more of the money you earn.

Full-time employees are eligible to participate in the Flexible Spending Account program. Participation in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care FSA is optional and determined on an annual basis for the plan year. You must enroll for each plan year. You determine how much to contribute to the account, up to a specified maximum, based on anticipated expenses during the plan year. Under Wilkes University's plan, you may contribute up to a maximum of 3,000 dollars each year for your Health Care FSA. The maximum contribution for your Dependent Care FSA is 5,000 dollars per year. Contributions are directed to the account through salary reduction on a pre-tax basis. This tax-free money is then available to you for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. Since the amounts that remain in the account at the end of the plan year are forfeited, you should take care not to over-fund your account.

Details of the Flexible Spending Account program are described in the Summary Plan Description (SPD). You may contact the Human Resources Development Office for more information on the Flexible Spending Account program.

Policy No.  326  Effective Date:  2/1/2004