Pay And Benefits
Dental and Vision Insurance
Most employees are also eligible for the Federal Employee Dental Vision Insurance Plan (FEDVIP). FEDVIP is a separate insurance plan from FEHB. You can sign up for dental plan, a vision plan or both types of insurance. You can choose from several different plans to cover yourself, your spouse and your unmarried, dependent children up to the age of 22.
Enrollment takes place during the annual Federal Benefits Open Season in November and December. New and newly eligible employees can enroll within the 60 days after they become eligible. Visit OPM's Dental and Vision Benefits page for more information.
Flexible Spending Accounts
The Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS) is a great way to help you save money by setting aside pre-tax dollars from your paycheck to help pay for eligible healthcare or childcare costs. If you’re eligible as a new or current federal employee, then you can set up either a healthcare or dependent care flexible spending account or both.
The money contributed to your FSAFEDS account is set aside before taxes are deducted, so in most cases you save about 30% on your Federal taxes. The average tax savings for a person earning $50,000 who contributes $2,000 into an FSA account is approximately $600. That means you get $2,000 worth of health care purchasing power PLUS pay about $600 LESS in Federal taxes. Visit OPM's Flexible Spending Account page for more information.
Flexible Work Schedules
Maintain valuable contributions to your work group or office while working remotely or by operating on a non-traditional work schedule. Federal Agencies may implement for its employees an alternative work schedule (AWS) instead of traditional fixed work schedules (e.g., 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week). Within rules established by the Agency, AWS can enable employees to have work schedules that help the employee balance work and family or personal responsibilities.
Interested in learning more about flexible work schedules, to include the types of flexible work schedules, overtime, compensatory time, holiday leave, and more? Visit OPM's Factsheet on Flexible Work Schedules.
Health Insurance
Most employees are eligible for the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHB). This program offers health insurance for you, your spouse and your children under the age of 26. It offers many different health plan choices, so you can find a plan that works best for you and your family.
Check out OPM's Health Care Comparison tool to compare the costs, benefits, and features of different plans. We chose the different benefit categories based on enrollee requests, differences among plans, and simplicity. However, we urge you to consider the total benefit package, in addition to service and cost, and provider availability when choosing a health plan.
The FEHB plan brochures show you what services and supplies are covered and the level of coverage. Review the brochures carefully. The brochures are formatted to ensure they are all organized alike. You can get brochures from the health plans or your human resource office. When it comes to your health care, the best surprise is no surprise.
Life Insurance
Most employees are eligible for the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance program (FEGLI). You can choose coverage starting at one year’s salary up to more than six times your salary, and you can get coverage on the lives of your spouse and eligible children too. The cost of Basic insurance is shared between you and the Government. You pay 2/3 of the total cost and the Government pays 1/3. Your age does not affect the cost of Basic insurance. You pay the full cost of Optional insurance, and the cost depends on your age.
OPM's Life Insurance page offers more information on how FEGLI works, as well as a FEGLI Calculator that allows you to determine the face value of various combinations of FEGLI coverage; calculate premiums for the various combinations of coverage; see how choosing different Options can change the amount of life insurance and the premium withholdings; and see how the life insurance carried into retirement will change over time.
Long-term Care Insurance
The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) 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 you’re eligible for the Federal Health Benefits Program, then you’re also eligible to apply for FLTCIP. Certain medical conditions, or combinations of conditions, will prevent some people from being approved for coverage. Learn more about long-term care insurance as OPM's Web site.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Employment with the Federal Government may make you eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans,
- after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
- while working full-time for an eligible employer.
Learn more about the PSLF program at StudenAid.gov.
Salary
Federal Government offers competitive pay, with most positions based on the General Schedule (GS) pay system. The GS classification and pay system covers the majority of civilian white-collar Federal employees (about 1.5 million worldwide) in professional, technical, administrative, and clerical positions. GS classification standards, qualifications, pay structure, and related human resources policies (e.g., general staffing and pay administration policies) are administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on a Governmentwide basis. Each agency classifies its GS positions and appoints and pays its GS employees filling those positions following statutory and OPM guidelines. Learn more about the GS pay system by visiting OPM's General Schedule Overview page.
For the latest salary rates, be sure to visit OPM's GS Salary Calculator.
Transit Subsidy Program
The Transit Subsidy Program provides a financial subsidy designed to encourage employees to use mass transit to commute to and from work.
The subsidy is a monthly, tax-free benefit for USDA employees. The transit subsidy is only to be used for the regular commute between an employee’s primary residence and work location by using a qualified means of public, mass transportation including subway, commuter or light rail, bus, ferry, or vanpool.
The Department of Transportation’s TRANServe program supports USDA and USDA employees by providing simplified access to transit authority information, electronic applications, how-to instructions, and other resources that encourage your use of mass transportation as your primary means of commuting between home and work. More information about transit subsidies is available at: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) | U.S. Department of Transportation.
Vacation, Personal, and Sick Time
Enjoy paid and non-paid time off through our generous leave programs. You may also qualify for a higher leave accrual rate because of your non-Federal work experience or uniformed service.
| Employee Type | Less than 3 years of service * | 3 years but less than 15 years of service * | 15 or more years of service * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time employees | ½ day (4 hours) for each pay period | ¾ day (6 hours) for each pay period, except 1¼ day (10 hours) in last pay period | 1 day (8 hours) for each pay period |
| Part-time employees | 1 hour for each 20 hours in a pay status | 1 hour for each 13 hours in a pay status | 1 hour for each 10 hours in a pay status |
| Uncommon tours of duty | (4 hours) times (average # of hours per biweekly pay period) divided by 80 = biweekly accrual rate. | (6 hours) times (average # of hours per biweekly pay period) divided by 80 = biweekly accrual rate.** | (8 hours) times (average # of hours per biweekly pay period) divided by 80 = biweekly accrual rate. |
| SES, Senior Level (SL), and Scientific or Professional (ST) positions, and employees in equivalent pay systems, as determined by OPM | 8 hours for each pay period, regardless of years of service. (See Extension of Higher Annual Leave Accrual Rate to SES and SL/ST Equivalent Pay Systems fact sheet) | ||
* See the Creditable Service for Leave Accrual section of this fact sheet. A change in accrual rate takes effect at the beginning of the pay period after the pay period an employee completes the required period of service.
** In computing leave accrual for uncommon tours of duty, the accrual rate for the last full pay period in a calendar year must be adjusted to ensure the correct amount of leave is accrued.
For more information on leave benefits, please visit OPM's Leave Administration page.