Us Government Benefits For Employees

Vacation/annual Leave Sick Leave And Holidays

“Our salaries are very competitive with the private sector. I also like the employee benefits. I really enjoy the opportunity to travel to different states around my region.”

“Michael Jimenez, Field Economist , Chicago, IL

As a Federal employee, you will earn annual leave that may be used for vacations, rest and relaxation, and personal business or emergencies. Hours are earned and accumulated each biweekly pay period. Following is the annual rate of accrual for full time employees: 1 to 3 years of service = 13 days leave 3 to 15 years of service = 20 days leave 15 years of service and up = 26 days leave. A maximum amount of 30 days of annual leave may be carried over from one leave year to the next.

In addition, as a Federal employee, you will earn 13 days of sick leave annually, regardless of service, that may be used in the event of illness, injury or medical appointments for you or a family member. There are no limits on the amount of sick leave that can be accumulated.

Lastly, Federal employees also receive 10 paid holidays each year: New Yearâs Day, Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., Washingtonâs Birthday , Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Days, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

How To Get Cobra

Group health plans must give covered employees and their families a notice explaining their COBRA rights. Plans must have rules for how COBRA coverage is offered, how beneficiaries may choose to get it and when they can stop coverage. For more COBRA information, see COBRA Continuation Coverage. The page links to information about COBRA including:

• Protecting Retirement and Health Benefits after Job Loss

Types Of Disability Policies

There are two types of disability policies.

• Short-term policies may pay for up to two years. Most last for a few months to a year.

• Long-term policies may pay benefits for a few years or until the disability ends.

Employers who offer coverage may provide short-term coverage, long-term coverage, or both.

If you plan to buy your own policy, shop around and ask:

• How is disability defined?

• How long do benefits last?

• How much money will the policy pay?

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Optional Group Life Insurance

In order to be insured under this benefit, you must also be insured under the basic group life insurance program.

Amount of InsuranceYour basic group life insurance covers you for two times your current salary. However, additional group life insurance is available over and above what you are covered for under the basic plan. You may apply to purchase, on behalf of your self and/or your spouse, additional group life insurance from $10,000 up to $300,000 in units of $10,000, but not to exceed $300,000 per insured person. For new employees, up to $100,000 is available without medical evidence of insurability if applied for within 31 days of your employment date.

Payment of BenefitsYou and/your spouse are covered 24 hours a day and benefits are paid as the result of death from any cause whatsoever.

Beneficiary DesignationYou may appoint any beneficiary to receive the benefits you have selected. You are automatically the beneficiary of any coverage selected for your spouse. The amount of life insurance is payable to the designated beneficiary currently on file and must be claimed within 1 year from date of death.

Termination of CoverageYou and/or your spouseâs coverage terminates on the earlier of your termination of employment or you/your spouseâs attainment of age 75. Coverage may be continued during early retirement but not beyond your 65th birthday.

Applying for Coverage

Services For You And Your Family Range From Counseling To Dependent Care

All federal agencies offer Employee Assistance Programs . An EAP is a free counseling service. EAPs help you address issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, work and family pressures, and job stress. Many Federal EAPs now offer services for family members of employees.

Do you and your spouse have children or elderly parents or a dependent adult that needs care? If you both work, it is challenging to balance work and your family responsibilities.

Many agencies offer programs to help with child or dependent care. Some even have child care centers. Many also provide telework or work schedule flexibility programs. These programs for work-life balance help employees and their spouses take care of their families while still earning an income.

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Starr Wright Usa Insurance Protection Can Assist Your Career Your Finances And More

While the federal program is comprehensive, you may want to supplement it depending on the extent of your coverage. The federal government does not provide Federal Employee Professional Liability Insurance , but it does reimburse the cost up to 50 percent for qualified employees.

Starr Wright USA offers FEPLI as well as life, travel, disability, and disability insurance, all designed to meet the needs of current and retired federal employees. As with any insurance plan, the employee and spouse need to understand what they have so they can plan their lives accordingly.

Article authored by and contains the opinions of Starr Wright USA. This article is offered solely for informational purposes. Starr Wright USA is a marketing name for Starr Wright Insurance Agency, Inc. and its affiliate. Starr Wright USA is an insurance agency specializing in insurance solutions for federal employees and federal contractors. For more information, visit WrightUSA.com. Starr Wright USA is a division of Starr Insurance Companies, which is a marketing name for the operating insurance and travel assistance companies and subsidiaries of Starr International Company, Inc. and for the investment business of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.

What Requirements Must You Meet To Keep Fehb After You Retire

A federal employee retiree had to have been enrolled in FEHB with active coverage at the date of their retirement to qualify for FEHB in retirement. And they must have been covered by the FEHB program for five years before retiring.

Those with less than five years of coverage may still qualify if they were continuously covered by the FEHBor enrolled as a family memberfrom the first time they qualified to enroll in the program.

Most federal employees are eligible for FEHB, but you must elect for coverage.

If you were not continuously enrolled in your own FEHB program, but a family member was continuously enrolled, you may qualify under that family member’s plan. The five-year rule still applies, but the time spent on the family member’s plan may count toward the five years.

If you had a break in service during the five-year vetting period, be sure to ask about your eligibility. Breaks in service may not prevent you from meeting the the five-year rule.

If you are unsure whether you can receive FEHB coverage, check out the eligibility website set up by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that lists categories of workers who are included and excluded. For example, you are not eligible if you were first employed by the government of Washington, D.C., unless one of four specific exceptions applies. You are also not eligible if you are paid on a fee or contract basis.

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Annual Leave Accrual Rates

* There is potential for a newly appointed or reappointed employee to receive service credit for prior non-Federal service or active duty uniformed service.

** Leave is prorated for part-time employees.

Voluntary Leave Transfer Program

The Voluntary Leave transfer Program provides for transfer of annual leave to employees with medical emergencies or employees with family members with medical emergencies. The program was created to fill a need when an employee does not have enough accrued leave to cover an illness/injury or for the interim time pending approval of disability retirement.

Holidays

Federal employees are paid for the following 11 holidays each year:

New Year’s Day, Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day

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Example: Eligible Break In Service

Susan elected FEHB coverage on July 5, 2013, and had a “break in service” from Jan. 1, 2019, to Jan. 1, 2020. When she returned, she elected to re-enroll from the time she was eligible on Jan. 1, 2020. She will remain enrolled until she retires on Dec. 1, 2021. When she retires, Susan will be able to continue FEHB because she will be considered to have been continuously enrolled for five years of service before retirement.

How To Submit Your Claims

Basic Group Life, Dependent Life, Optional Life, Basic and Optional Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

Life, dismemberment or loss of use claims:Your Plan Administrator will co-ordinate claim forms and advise procedures.

Waiver of Premium:

• Notice of Disability/Sickness should be provided to your Plan Administrator no later than 2 months from your last day worked.
• Once the Plan Administrator and Canada Life have been notified, all forms for application of benefit will be sent to you for completion. Please return these forms to Canada Life in the time frame allowed

Optional Long Term Disability Insurance

• If you are participating in the long term disability insurance plan and it appears that you will be off work for a period of more than 119 days, you should obtain the appropriate claim forms within 2 months from last day worked from your Plan Administrator. Upon completion, all forms must be returned to Canada Life.

Notice and Proof of Claims

Optional Critical IllnessYour Plan Administrator will co-ordinate claim forms and advise on procedures

Supplementary Health Insurance

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Transportation And Bicycle Subsidy

Employees who use mass transit facilities or other similar public transportation modes are eligible to receive up to $265 a month to use towards their commuting costs and up to $20 a month for bicycle commuting expenses. This program helps to improve air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and conserves energy by reducing the number of single occupancy vehicles on the road.

Long Term Care Insurance

The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program provides long term care insurance to help pay for costs of care when you can no longer perform everyday tasks for yourself like eating, dressing and bathing, due to a chronic illness, injury, disability or aging. If youre eligible for the Federal Health Benefits Program, then youre also eligible to apply for FLTCIP. Certain medical conditions, or combinations of conditions, will prevent some people from being approved for coverage. You must apply to find out if youre eligible to enroll.

Learn more about the long term care insurance plan.

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Dental And Vision Care

Dental and Vision Care benefits are offered as separate, individual, optional plans to supplement benefits available under FEHB. Employees can select from a variety of dental plans and a variety of vision plans for individual, self+one, and family coverage. These elections are independent of the FEHB elections. These plans allow federal employees to participate in a group program allowing for competitive premiums and no pre-exiting condition limitations. Further information about Dental and Vision Care benefits is available at the OPM website.

Temporary Continuation Of Coverage

If the FERS determines that you are ineligible for health benefits, you and certain family members may have the option to enroll for up to 18 months of Temporary Continuation of Coverage . You should also look into TCC if you plan to stop working before you are able to retire but want to have FEHB during retirement. TCC may be able to serve as a bridge to cover you until your retirement, when you would then re-enroll into FEHB.

You will not be able to obtain TCC if you have been terminated for gross misconduct.

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Alternative Work Schedule Part

You may be able to follow alternative work schedules instead of traditional fixed work schedules , which can enable employees to have work schedules that help the employee balance work and family or personal responsibilities. Eighty-five percent of the Department’s employees participate in some type of flexible work schedule, called flexitime, which allows employees to accrue time for taking leave to attend to personal business. Flexitime enables employees to vary their arrival and departure times. You may work in excess of the basic work requirement and earn credit time. Credit time earned in one pay period may be used as time off in another. DOL also offers opportunities for part-time work and job sharing.

Benefits That Protect Your Future

The Basic Benefit Plan provides long-term disability and survivor benefits for your spouse and children. The Thrift Savings Plan is similar to a 401 plan in the private sector that includes employer contributions.

The U.S. government maintains two retirement systems for its employees. The first is the Federal Employees Retirement System. The Civil Service Retirement System is being phased out.

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Benefits Of Working For The Federal Government

USAJOBS, the primary portal for federal job seekers, launched a streamlined application service for college students and recent graduates called Pathways to better assist them with finding government work.While this is certainly welcome news in a competitive job market, one might wonder why there is so much interest in government jobs in particular.

Flexible Work Schedules And Locations

Many offices within EPA allow you to tailor your work schedule to your personal needs and professional goals. Under a “compressed” schedule, you may be able to take one day or even two days every pay period if you work longer hours on the remaining days of your pay period.

You may also have flexibility to set your own start and leave times, as long as your work times include “core hours”.

Flexiplace offers many employees the opportunity to work at home either as the need arises, or more regularly as part of their work week. If you are applying for a position, and you are selected for an interview, you can ask the manager interviewing you if compressed schedules, flexible hours, and/or flexiplace are available for the particular position for which you are applying.

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Basic Accidental Death And Dismemberment Insurance

The plan provides accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage in an amount equal to your basic group life insurance . Coverage is provided 24 hours per day, anywhere in the world, for any accident resulting in death, dismemberment, paralysis, loss of use of, or loss of speech or hearing.

In order to be covered by this benefit, all losses must result directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injuries suffered by accidental, external and violent means. Death caused by accidental drowning shall also be covered. Death or loss must occur within 365 days from the date of the accident causing such loss. In the case of accidental death, the amount of life insurance is payable to the designated beneficiary currently on file and must be claimed within 1 year from date of death.

The amount payable shall be the following percentage of the amount of Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance for which you are insured on the date of the injury. The maximum amount payable for all losses sustained as a result of the same accident shall not exceed 100% of the amount of insurance. Only one amount, the largest applicable, will be payable for injuries to the same limb resulting from any one accident.

Loss of entire sight means that it is total and irrecoverable. Loss of entire sight is also deemed to have occurred if sight cannot be restored to better than 20/20 vision by surgical or other means .

First Impressions Really Do Matter

People skills, attire, etc. all become more important when competition amongst talent is this fierce.

Reality check: Those who are failing to make a good first impression get put in the “no” pile and are never contacted again.

So, if you aren’t getting called back by a recruiter after either an in-person meeting or phone call, there’s a good chance that, in addition to the fact you didn’t have the right skills, you also might have displayed one or more traits on the “I can’t market them” list.

Now, most recruiters won’t tell you what you did wrong. Why? For one reason, they aren’t paid to give you the bad news. Second, they don’t want to burn a bridge. And third, as I mentioned, they just don’t have the time.

And yet, how are you going to fix the problem if you don’t know it exists? I’ve put together the most common reasons why a recruiter writes a candidate off. You may not like what you read, but the good news is with a little attention and practice all of them can be improved upon.

So, ask yourself,“Am I guilty of the following?”

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Special Authorization Drug Claims

The Special Authorization process has been developed to ensure you have access to a wide range of prescription drug benefits, when you need them. This section has been designed to familiarize you with the Special Authorization process.

How does Special Authorization apply to my prescription drug program?Your prescription drug program provides you with immediate access to more than 3,000 prescription drugs. Certain other medications require Special Authorization before your prescription is eligible for coverage.

How does Special Authorization affect me?This new process applies to you if a medication you require falls under the Special Authorization category. It is important to familiarize yourself with these medications and discuss the process with your doctor. Special Authorization is designed to provide you with your required medications as quickly as possible.

Will I need to pay for my prescription myself?You will only need to pay for your prescription yourself if you purchase the medication prior to receiving Special Authorization approval, or if your request for Special Authorization is denied

How do I apply for Special Authorization?

If you have further questions about Special Authorization, please call your dedicated Canada Life customer contact centre at 1-844-349-5656.