 | Benefits |
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PennDOT offers a competitive salary, as well as a strong benefits package that includes promotional opportunities, a generous retirement/pension plan, paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid personal leave, paid holidays, group life insurance, comprehensive health care insurance, prescription plan, vision care plan, and dental care plan. This exceptional package is valued at approximately 32% of an employee’s salary. This means a prospective PennDOT employee with a starting salary of $40,000 would annually receive an additional $12,800 in tax-free benefits, for a total value of over $52,000.
Highlighted below is the exceptional benefit package that permanent full-time employees of PennDOT enjoy: |
| Hospital/Medical Benefits
Employees who elect health care coverage will contribute a percentage of their bi-weekly gross base salary toward the cost of coverage as provided below:
- FY 09/10 2.0%
- FY 10/11 3.0%
Dependents of new employees wait only six months before they are eligible for coverage at no charge. Employees have the option of purchasing medical insurance for dependents during this initial six-month period.
The health benefit options offered to full-time employees, all of which are organized health care delivery systems through networks of participating providers, are as follows:
- Consumer Driven Health Plan (CDHP)
- Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
- Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
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| Employees are required to enroll in the least expensive plan covering their area of residence, or may choose to purchase a more expensive plan covering their area of residence. The CDHP and all HMOs are the least expensive plans Commonwealth-wide. Only the PPO has an additional cost if employees elect to enroll in this plan. |
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| Supplemental Health Benefits
After only six months of employment, employees as well as their dependents are eligible for supplemental benefits. Listed below is the wide variety of supplemental benefits offered:
- Dental
- Vision
- Prescription Drugs
- Hearing Aid benefits
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| Group Life Insurance
Employees receive fully paid term life insurance equal to the nearest $1,000 of an employee’s annual salary, up to a maximum of $40,000. Listed below are other guidelines for dealing with Group Life Insurance:
- Effective after 90 days of employment.
- Insurance coverage of less than $40,000 increases with salary and is updated every January 1st.
- Employees have the right to convert group life insurance to a private policy at separation.
- A $25,000 work-related accidental death benefit for employees who die as the result of a work-related accident.
- Terminally ill employees can receive up to 50% of the dollar value of their life insurance.
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| Voluntary Benefit Program
Optional Life Insurance, Dependent Term Life Insurance and Disability Insurance – Prudential |
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Employees have the option to purchase optional term life insurance for up to 5x their annual salary. Proof of good health must be provided to the Life Insurance provider if the amount purchased is more than 1x the annual salary and/or the amount equals more than $100,000.
Optional life insurance coverage is also available to the employee’s spouse/domestic partner and their eligible children. The amount available to purchase for the spouse ranges from $10,000 to $100,000, with the requirement to provide proof of good health when the amount is higher than $20,000. An employee may not purchase more insurance for the spouse than was purchased for him/her. Employees may choose $5,000 or $10,000 for their dependent children. The premium is the same regardless of the number of children and no health questions are necessary.
Employees may also purchase optional disability insurance designed to replace a portion of their income if her or she cannot work due to illness or injury. The options available are: 60% of the monthly earnings up to $5,000, with no health questions; or 60% of the monthly earnings up to $5,000 with a cost of living adjustment of 3%, and no health questions.
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| Auto, Homeowners/Renters Insurance – Travelers |
| Also available at group rates are auto insurance and homeowners/renters insurance through Travelers. Employees may receive discounts such as: insuring both their auto and home with Travelers, payroll deduction, multi-car, driver training, good student, anti-theft device, new home buyer, loss-free, protective devices, etc. Enrollment is available throughout the year.
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| Employees enjoy a highly competitive retirement plan and can obtain full retirement after 35 years of service or with three years of service at the age of 60. The approximate formula used to calculate basic retirement benefits is Years of Service x Final Average Salary (3 highest years) x 2% x 1.25 (class multiplier). For example, an employee with 35 years and having an average salary of $60,000 for the last three years of service would receive $52,500 annually for retirement. This generous retirement plan equals over 87% of the individual’s yearly salary.
Listed below are other incentives through retirement at PennDOT:
- Employee contribution rate is 6.25% and is tax deferred.
- Vesting or actuarially reduced benefits after 5 years of service.
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| For more information regarding the retirement plan, visit the SERS website at www.sers.state.pa.us. |
| Deferred Compensation (Optional) |
| Deferred compensation is a voluntary retirement supplement in which money is deducted from an employee’s biweekly pre-tax earnings and invested in one or more of the available plans. |
| Family Care Account Program |
| The Family Care Account Program (FCAP) assists working families with young children, parents or other family members who require care during the workday. It allows employees to make pretax deductions from their pay to fund childcare or other family care expenses. State employees may have up to $5,000 of their annual earnings deducted into FCAP. Deductions provide a substantial savings to the employee by reducing his or her federal income tax and Social Security tax obligations.
The program covers those you legally claim as dependents for tax purposes, including children up to age 13 (older if with disabilities); spouse and other adults and children with disabilities if they have the same principal place of abode as you for more than one-half of the taxable year, they cannot care for themselves, and their income does not exceed the exemption amount for the taxable year
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| Employees can accumulate a maximum of 45 annual leave days and can receive payment for unused leave at termination. Listed below is the annual leave earning rate employees receive: - Up to 3 years service 7 days
- Up to 3 years service (Management employees) 10 days
- More than 3 years through 15 years service 15 days
- More than 15 years through 25 years service 20 days
- More than 25 years service 26 days
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| Employees can earn up to 4 personal days per year and can receive payment for unused leave at termination. Personal leave days cannot carry over from one year to the next. Listed below is the personal leave earning rate employees receive:- During first calendar year—1 Day
- During the second calendar year — 2 Days
- During third and subsequent calendar years — 4 Days
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| Sick Leave |
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All employees earn 13 days of sick leave annually and can accumulate up to a maximum of 300 sick leave days. At separation, if age/service requirements are met, employees can receive payment for a percentage of these days up to a maximum of 50%. If all types of leave quotas (annual, personal, and sick) are at the maximum value at the time of separation, an employee will receive payment for 238 days, or approximately 90% of their yearly salary.
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| In addition to paid leaves referenced above, up to 6 months of unpaid leave with benefits is also available for an employee who becomes a parent through childbirth, formal adoption, or foster care placement.
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| Employees receive 11 paid holidays annually. |
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