Federal Employee Benefits Summary

*On average, the federal government’s contribution to employee benefits equates to approximately 30% of your annual salary.

Salary	Regular pay increases, time and a half pay for overtime work, shift differential pay.
Vacation (Annual Leave)	0-3 years 3-14 years 15+ years	Earn 4 hours per pay period/ 13 days per year Earn 6 hours per pay period/ 20 days per year Earn 8 hours per pay period/ 26 days per year
Sick Leave	Earn 4 hours per pay period/ 13 days per year
Leave Bank Program	An additional benefit provided to eligible FSIS employees where they can receive donated leave to cover absences due to an unexpected personal or family medical emergency.
Federal Holidays	11 paid Federal Holidays per year. Receive holiday pay for work performed on designated Federal Holidays.
Health, Dental & Vision Insurance Options	Subsidized health insurance plans. Government pays about 2/3rds of health plan premiums. Choose the plan that best fits your needs. Dental/vision plans available at reduced rates.
Life & Long-Term Care Insurance Options	Subsidized life insurance. Basic life insurance coverage and 3 options. Long Term Care Insurance provides financial assistance for care due to chronic illness, injury, disability, or aging.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)	Use pre‐tax dollars to cover out of pocket health care and dependent care expenses. Save an average of 30% on qualifying health care expenses.
Retirement Fund (FERS)	Federal Employees Retirement System is a defined benefit pension plan that is guaranteed upon retirement and not based on your individual investment return.
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Similar to 401k	Agency automatically contributes 1% of your yearly base salary and will match up to an additional 4% (for a total of 5%)
Incentives	FSIS offers tuition reimbursement for Food Inspector and Consumer Safety Inspector positions. Student loan repayment and additional incentives are available for Public Health Veterinarian positions. Learn more about our incentives.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)	An Agency-paid benefit that provides free and confidential counseling, and financial and legal consultative and referral services to employees and their immediate family members.
WorkLife4You Program	An Agency-paid work/life balance program that provides free and confidential consultative services, expert guidance, specialized information, and pre-screened referrals to employees and their family members. Work/Life specialists with education and expertise in their field (childcare, elder care, education, etc.) can assist with any of life’s milestones, transitions, and responsibilities; both at work and at home.
Emergency Backup Dependent Care	An Agency-paid dependent care program that helps employees and their families find - and pay for - quality child or adult care when their regular arrangements are disrupted. Employees are allowed up to 20 visits per dependent each year and can opt to pay a $10 copay per day for in-network providers or select their own caretaker with the “Friends & Family” option and get reimbursed up to $100 per day, per dependent (family cap of $200 per day).
LifeMart® Employee Discount Center	An on-line discount center, featuring a wide variety of products and services, such as delivery and streaming services, entertainment, travel, fitness centers and products, learning resources and more.
Comparison of Federal and Private Sector Employee Compensation	Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm Information on employee benefits: www.opm.gov