(Note: The benefits for Higher Education employees vary slightly from those listed here for General Government employees.)
Insurance Benefits
Employees and families are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, and basic long term disability insurance plans approved by the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB). Employees may purchase additional life insurance and long term disability insurance at special group rates. Additional information is available on the Health Care Authority web site.
Retirement Benefits
Most state employees are members of the Washington Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). Employees hired on or after March 1, 2002, choose between two plans: PERS Plan 2 and PERS Plan 3.
PERS Plan 2 is a defined benefit plan. This means an individual's retirement benefit is defined by a formula. The formula is two percent x service credit years x average final compensation (AFC). Average final compensation is the average of the highest paid 60 consecutive service credit months. This plan is financed jointly by monthly tax-deferred deductions from the employee's gross pay and contributions made by the state.
PERS Plan 3 has two different components. A defined benefit component (similar to PERS Plan 2 except it uses one percent in the formula instead of two percent) and a defined contribution component. The defined contribution component is a benefit based entirely on the amount the employee contributes and the performance of the investments he/she chooses. In this plan, the defined benefit component is financed by contributions made by the employer and the defined contribution component is financed solely by the employee's contributions.
For additional information, check out the Department of Retirement Systems' web site.
Deferred Compensation
The State of Washington Deferred Compensation Program offers a supplemental retirement benefit program for state employees. Contact the Deferred Comp office at (360) 664-7111 or 1-800-423-1524 for additional information.
Social Security
All state employees are covered by the federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance System (Social Security). The state and the employee pay an equal amount into the system.
Vacation Leave (Annual Leave)
State employees are eligible to take accrued annual leave with pay after six months of full-time employment. Annual leave accrues for full-time employees as follows:
During 1st year
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12 days
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During 2nd year
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13 days
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During 3rd & 4th years
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14 days
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During 5th, 6th & 7th years
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15 days
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During 8th, 9th & 10th years
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16 days
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During 11th year
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17 days
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During 12th year
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18 days
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During 13th year
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19 days
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During 14th year
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20 days
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During 15th year
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21 days
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During 16th year & thereafter
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22 days
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A maximum of 30 working days (240 hours) may be accumulated.
Sick Leave
Full-time employees earn one day of sick leave each month. Paid sick leave may be used for the following: illness, injury, or preventive health care; exposure to a contagious disease that might endanger others; disability due to pregnancy or childbirth; illness, injury, or death of relatives.
Shared Leave
Employees may donate accrued leave to a fellow state employee who is suffering from or has a relative or household member suffering from an extraordinary or severe illness or impairment which may cause the employee to take leave without pay or terminate employment.
Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool
The USSLP allows employees to donate leave to be used as shared leave for any employee who has been called to service in the uniformed services and who meets the shared leave requirements. The USSLP will be administered by the Military Department. For more information, please review the guidelines established by the Military Department via the link:
http://mil.wa.gov/usslp.shtml.
Holidays
Full-time employees are entitled to eleven paid holidays: