Fringe Benefit Legal Definition

In Brown County Attorneys Ass'n v. Brown County, 169 Wis. 2d 737, 740, 487 N.W.2d 312 (Ct. App. 1992), the term "fringe benefit" was not defined by statute; therefore, the Court looked to its ordinary and accepted meaning. See id. Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary 912 (Unabr. 1976), defines "fringe benefit" as: "An employment benefit . . . granted by an employer that involves a money cost without affecting basic wage rates." All fringe benefits, as a benefit to the employee at a money cost to the employer, are essentially "compensation" for work done. The question, consequently, is not whether the benefit is compensation, but, rather, whether it is compensation that affects basic wage rates. (Brown County Attorneys, 169 Wis. 2d at 742-43.)