NIH Salary Cap
The US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)/NIH imposes a base salary
cap for employees paid from its sponsored awards. A salary cap is the maximum annual
Institutional Base Salary that can be charged on the DHHS/NIH award. The
percentage of effort charged to a sponsored award where a salary cap is applicable
cannot be applied to more than the maximum capped salary rate for the pay period.
Use this site for salary cap amounts based on when the award was issued
*NIH Central Website Resource for Grants and Funding Info
Example of this calculation with 100% effort:
Faculty member with a full-time 12-month appointment on a DHHS/NIH award:
Faculty member’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS) $200,000
Awards issued 1/7/18-9/30/18 Salary cap limitation $189,600*Difference to be paid from Institutional source: $10,400
Calculation of partial effort:
Research Effort Requested on Award : 30% or 3.6 months
Calculating Effort:
Faculty member’s IBS $200,000
Effort x 30%
30% effort without NIH Cap $60,000
Implementing the NIH Salary Cap:
Awards issued 1/7/18-9/30/18 Salary cap limitation $189,600*
Partial Effort x 30%
Maximum allowance to charge NIH award $56,880
Of the $200,000 IBS, the amount to be paid from an Institutional Source is the difference: $3,120
The portion of effort applied to the amount of the Institutional Base Salary over
the cap cannot be charged to other sponsored awards or used to fulfill cost share
obligations. It is the departmental responsibility to ensure that salary
cap limits are complied with. Cost Accounting will provide ongoing oversight
to ensure the University is in compliance with salary cap limits.