The last semimonthly payroll of Garcia Carpentry was $84,248 of gross wages for 38 employees. The company pays 5.2% of payroll for vacations and sick leave and $72.22 per employee for health insurance. What percent of payroll is the total cost of fringe benefits? (Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a percent)

First, let's find the total cost of health insurance: $72.22/employee * 38 employees = $<<72.22*38=2744.36>>2744.36

Next, find the total cost of vacation and sick leave pay: 5.2% * $84,248 = $4,380.90
Now add that amount to the cost of health insurance to find the total cost of fringe benefits: $2,744.36 + $4,380.90= $<<2744.36+4380.9=7125.26>>7,125.26
Now divide the cost of fringe benefits by the gross wages and multiply by 100% to find the percentage of payroll spent on fringe benefits: $7,125.26 / $84,248 * 100% = 8.459807634%, which rounds down to 8.5%. Answer: \boxed{8.5}.

To find the total cost of fringe benefits as a percentage of payroll, we need to calculate the amount spent on fringe benefits and divide it by the gross wages.

First, let's calculate the amount spent on vacations and sick leave. We know that the company pays 5.2% of payroll for these benefits. We can find this amount by multiplying the gross wages by 5.2%:
Amount spent on vacations and sick leave = $84,248 * 0.052

Next, let's calculate the amount spent on health insurance per employee. We know that the cost is $72.22 per employee, and there are 38 employees. We can calculate the total amount spent on health insurance by multiplying the cost per employee by the number of employees:
Amount spent on health insurance = $72.22 * 38

Now, we can calculate the total cost of fringe benefits by adding the amounts spent on vacations and sick leave and health insurance:
Total cost of fringe benefits = Amount spent on vacations and sick leave + Amount spent on health insurance

To find the percentage of fringe benefits as a portion of payroll, we divide the total cost of fringe benefits by the gross wages and multiply by 100:
Percentage of fringe benefits = (Total cost of fringe benefits / Gross wages) * 100

Let's calculate the answer:
Amount spent on vacations and sick leave = $84,248 * 0.052 = $4,382.20
Amount spent on health insurance = $72.22 * 38 = $2,746.36
Total cost of fringe benefits = $4,382.20 + $2,746.36 = $7,128.56
Percentage of fringe benefits = ($7,128.56 / $84,248) * 100

Calculating the percentage:
Percentage of fringe benefits = (0.0846) * 100 ≈ 8.5%

Therefore, the total cost of fringe benefits is approximately 8.5% of payroll.

To find the total cost of fringe benefits as a percent of the payroll, we need to calculate the total amount spent on fringe benefits and then express it as a percentage of the gross wages.

1. Calculate the total amount spent on vacations and sick leave:
- Multiply the gross wages by 5.2%: $84,248 * 0.052 = $4,381.30

2. Calculate the total amount spent on health insurance:
- Multiply the cost per employee by the number of employees: $72.22 * 38 = $2,746.36

3. Calculate the total cost of fringe benefits:
- Add the amounts spent on vacations and sick leave and health insurance: $4,381.30 + $2,746.36 = $7,127.66

4. Calculate the percentage of payroll:
- Divide the total cost of fringe benefits by the gross wages and multiply by 100: ($7,127.66 / $84,248) * 100 ≈ 8.47%

Therefore, the total cost of fringe benefits is approximately 8.5% of the payroll.