United States District Court, Central District of California
United States District Court, Central District of California |
| Subject: | Section: | Contact: |
| General Information | Benefits | Human Resources, 213-894-2904 |
FEDERAL EMPLOYEE GROUP HEALTH BENEFITS The federal government offers Preferred Provider Organization Plans (PPO) and Health Maintenance Organization Plans (HMO) for its employees. Employees have 60 days from the date of appointment to elect health benefits. Outside of the initial enrollment period, the next opportunity to enroll in the health benefits program and/or make changes to an existing plan is during open season (typically November to December), or due to a qualifying event such as: marriage, birth of a baby, adoption, or a spouse loses his/her job. The employee will pay a small portion of the premium while the government pays the balance. The cost is determined by the health plan selected by the employee and will be automatically deducted from the employees regular bi-weekly pay. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES GROUP LIFE INSURANCE Basic Life Life insurance coverage is equal to the rate of your annual basic pay rounded up to the next $1,000 plus $2,000, or $10,000, whichever is greater. Basic insurance also provides an extra benefit to employees under age 45, at no additional cost. This extra benefit doubles the amount of Basic coverage payable if death occurs at age 35 or younger. The extra benefit decreases 10% each year until age 45, at which time the extra coverage will end. Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) provides additional funds in the event of a fatal accident or an accident that results in the loss of a limb or eyesight. For benefits to be paid, the death or loss must occur not more than one year from the date of the accident and be a direct result of bodily injury sustained from that accident, independent of all other causes.
Please refer to the FEGLI Booklet to review the reasons for which AD & D death benefits will not be paid. The Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program offers you three types of Optional insurance: Option A - Standard, Option B - Additional, and Option C - Family. You must be enrolled in Basic in order to elect any Optional insurance. Option B - Additional: You can elect coverage equal to one, two, three, four, or five times your annual basic pay (up to the next $1,000). Option C - Family: You can elect to provide coverage for your spouse and eligible dependent children. When you elect Option C, all of your eligible family members are automatically covered. You can elect coverage equal to one, two, three, four, or five times your basic salary. Spouse - $5,000 life insurance coverage. Each eligible dependent child - $2,500 life insurance coverage. Eligible dependent children must be unmarried and under age 22, or if age 22 or over, incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical disability that existed before the child reached age 22. Eligible dependent children include your natural children, adopted children, stepchildren (if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship) recognized natural children, and foster children (if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship). When does coverage begin? Basic life insurance coverage is effective on the first day you enter in a pay and duty status unless you waive this coverage before the end of your first pay period. You must complete a Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) to waive insurance or to elect Optional insurance. You have 31 days from the date of your appointment to elect Optional insurance. What if I want to change my life insurance coverage? If you waive all insurance coverage or did not elect any Optional insurance when you were first hired, or you want to change the coverage that you have now, you have three opportunities to make changes: an open season, completion of a request for life insurance form (SF 2822), or have a life event (marriage, divorce, death of a spouse and children). FEDERAL FIRST LONG TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE Federal First Long Term Disability Insurance provides disability insurance to enrolled federal employees. The coverage is designed to offer federal employees peace of mind in the event of an illness or injury which would prevent an employee from working and losing their source of income. If an enrolled employee becomes disabled, the Federal First’s LTD Plan, underwritten by Aetna Line Insurance Company (Aetna), will replace up to 70% of the disabled employee's gross annual salary, tax free. The premium cost will be automatically deducted from the employee’s regular pay. This plan is designed to let you choose between two options of benefits. Option 1: This option replaces 50% of your regular pay to a maximum benefit payment of $3,500 a month. Benefit payments begins after you’ve been totally disabled for the 30-day elimination period. Option 2: This option replaces 60% of your regular pay to a maximum benefit payment of $5,000 a month. Benefit payments begins after you’ve been totally disabled for the 60-day elimination period. Option 3: This option replaces 70% of your regular pay to a maximum benefit payment of $10,000 a month. Benefit payment begins after you’ve been totally disabled for the 90-day elimination period. Employees can enroll, change, or cancel their participation in the LTD program at any time. Coverage begins the first day of the pay period for which premiums have been deducted from an employee’s pay. Note: It is your responsibility to update your Federal First LTD information. Benefits will be paid according to the most current premium deduction. If your premium is not updated, future increases in salary may be subject to pre-existing conditions as described in your benefits booklet. Federal First LTD information is available on-line at www.federalfirst.com or you may contact a Federal First LTD customer service representative at (800) 233-0438 to request information. Thrift Savings Plan The Thrift Savings Plan is a retirement savings plan for both FERS (Federal Employees' Retirement System) and CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) employees. The TSP offers employees two approaches to investing money: The Individual Funds - There are five individual investments funds: Government Securities Investment (G) Fund, Fixed Income Index Investment (F) Fund, Common Stock Index Investment (C) Fund, Small Capitalization Stock Index Investment (S) Fund, and International Stock Index Investment (I) Fund. The L Funds - These are “lifecycle” funds that are invested according to a professionally designed mix of stocks, bonds, and government securities. TSP offers all participants:
If you are a FERS employee, you are also eligible for:
If you are a CSRS employee: CSRS employees can take advantage of the TSP to provide a source of retirement income in addition to their CSRS annuity. Although CSRS employees do not receive any agency contributions, CSRS employees receive the benefit of tax deferral, an opportunity to invest in the TSP funds, and participation in the TSP Loan Program. TSP information is available on-line at www.tsp.gov. ENROLLMENT Employees can elect to contribute to the TSP at any time; there is no waiting period. The amount an employee can contribute changes annually. Employees can elect to contribute a percentage of their basic pay or a specific dollar amount, subject to the IRS elective deferral limit. If an employee elects to contribute a percentage of their basic pay, the amount of the contributions will automatically increase when an employee receives salary increases. Employees can start, change or stop their employee contributions by making a TSP contribution election. The election will become effective no later than the first pay period after the HR Department has received the TSP-1 form. Contributions must be made through payroll deductions. QUALIFIED PLAN ROLLOVER Employees can elect to transfer money into the TSP from qualified retirement plans [including pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, and 401 (k) plans, 403(b) annuities, 457(b) plans, Simplified Employee Pensions (SEPs)], traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and conduit IRAs set up specifically to accept distributions from qualified retirement plans. Transfers will not be accepted from “Roth” IRAs, mutual funds, or savings accounts. CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS On November 27, 2002, the President signed Public Law (Pub. L.) No. 107-304, which permits eligible Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants who are age 50 or older to make tax-deferred “catch-up” contributions from their basic pay to their TSP accounts. Eligibility for Catch-up Contributions You are eligible to make catch-up contributions as long as: You are contributing either the maximum TSP contribution percentage or an amount which will result in your reaching the IRS elective deferral limit by the end of the relevant year; and You must be at least 50 years old in the year the catch-up contributions are made (even if your birthday is December 31 of that year); and You are not in the six month non-contribution period following the receipt of a financial hardship in-service withdrawal. Annual Catch-up Contribution Limits Catch-up contributions are not subject to the IRS elective deferral limits. However, the contribution is limited to $5,500 per year. The catch-up contribution (like the regular employee contribution) applies to the year in which the pay date occurs. Your catch-up contributions will stop automatically when you meet the IRS limit, when the amount of the catch-up contributions you elected has been reached, or at the end of the calendar year, whichever comes first. You must make a new election for each calendar year. FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT RETIREMENT SYSTEM (FERS) FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The three Components are:
You pay full Social Security taxes and a small contribution (0.80%) to Basic Benefit Plan. In addition, your agency puts an amount equal to 1% of your basic pay each pay period into your Thrift Savings Plan account. You are able to make tax-deferred contributions to the Plan and a portion is matched by the Government. The three components of FERS work together to give you a strong financial foundation for your retirement. RETIREMENT REQUIREMENTS Employees must meet the following requirements to be eligible for retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).
CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (CSRS) Employees contribute 7% per pay period into the CSRS Retirement Fund. CSRS employees do not pay into Social Security Benefits. However, CSRS employees are eligible to contribute any whole percentage of basic pay from 1% to 100% or a specific dollar amount, subject to the IRS elective deferral limit. Although CSRS employees do not receive any agency contributions, CSRS employees receive the benefit of tax deferral. RETIREMENT REQUIREMENTS Employees must meet the following requirements to be eligible for retirement under Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).
PAID HOLIDAYS Federal employees are granted 10 paid holidays each year.
Click here for current year's holidays. LEAVE ACT An employee who is appointed to a position of 90 days or more earns annual leave. Law Clerk participation in the Leave Act is determined by the Judge. The following are the leave accruals for individuals covered under the Leave Act: Full-Time Employees
*10 hours are accrued in the last pay period of the calendar year. Sick Leave Accrual: A full-time employee shall accrue 4 hours of sick leave each full bi-weekly pay period that the employee is in a pay status, including paid leave status. Part-Time Employees
Sick Leave Accrual: A part-time employee shall accrue 1 hour of sick leave for each 20 hours in a pay status. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||