Benefits

U.S. Department of Labor career opportunities feature competitive starting salaries and the potential for performance-based increases, flexible hours, and the ability to achieve and maintain a balanced lifestyle. You will enjoy a range of comprehensive and competitive employment benefits that include:

Health Benefits, Insurance and Retirement

Medical

The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program can help you and your families meet health care needs. Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country.

Dental and Vision

Dental and vision benefits are available to eligible federal employees, retirees, and their eligible family members on an enrollee-pay-all basis. The Federal Employees Dental/Vision (FEDVIP) Program allows dental insurance and vision insurance to be purchased on a group basis, which means competitive premiums (withheld on a pre-tax basis) and no pre-existing condition limitations.

Flexible Spending Accounts

The Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS) is a savings account that helps you pay for items that typically are not covered (for out-of-pocket medical or dependent care expenses).

Life Insurance

The Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) provides group term life insurance, which consists of Basic life insurance coverage and three additional options. In most cases, if you are a new Federal employee, you are automatically covered by Basic life insurance and your payroll office deducts premiums from your paycheck unless you waive the coverage.

Long-Term Care Insurance

The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program provides an important benefit that can help pay long-term care expenses you may incur in the future.

Thrift Savings Plan

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a tax-deferred retirement savings and investment plan and is similar to a 401(k). By participating in the TSP, federal employees have the opportunity to save part of their income for retirement, receive matching agency contributions, and reduce their current taxes.

Pension Plan

It’s never too late to plan for retirement and it’s never too early to learn about your retirement options.

Pay, Vacation, and Leave

Pay Tables

Personal leave days for vacation, illness, and family care (including Paid Parental Leave)

Find information about personal leave, including annual leave, sick leave, Family and Medical Leave Act, military leave, time off for special circumstances and more.

Personal Leave Days for Vacation, Illness, and Family Care

Paid Federal Holidays

There are typically 10 public holidays observed each year.

Work Schedules and Work/Life Balance

Alternative Work Schedule, Part-Time Employment, and Job Sharing Opportunities

You may be able to follow alternative work schedules (AWS) instead of traditional fixed work schedules (e.g., 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week), which can enable employees to have work schedules that help the employee balance work and family or personal responsibilities. Eighty-five percent of the Department's employees participate in some type of flexible work schedule, called flexitime, which allows employees to accrue time for taking leave to attend to personal business. Flexitime enables employees to vary their arrival and departure times. You may work in excess of the basic work requirement and earn credit time. Credit time earned in one pay period may be used as time off in another. DOL also offers opportunities for part-time work and job sharing.

Telework

Consistent with work requirements, DOL offers employees opportunities to perform work from an alternate location (e.g., home) other than their traditional office or location where work is typically performed.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) provides services designed to help employees, managers, and organizations meet life challenges and remain healthy, engaged, and productive. DOL’s (EAP), is a free, confidential and professionally staffed service - which is available to help employees resolve personal problems that may adversely impact their job performance, attendance, and/or conduct. Such personal problems may include emotional, alcohol and drug-related, family and relationship, and/or financial issues. The EAP can help by providing high-quality problem assessment, short-term counseling and/or referral to appropriate community treatment resources, and follow-up (the cost of care by a community treatment resource is the employee's responsibility).

WorkLife4You

A free resource and referral service for DOL employees and their immediate family members. WorkLife4You can help you manage personal and family responsibilities.

Dependent Care - Child Care, Elder Care, and Special Needs

DOL is a longtime supporter of employees with dependent care needs and offers various service and programs to support child care needs of DOL employees.

• Child Care Subsidy Program – In keeping with DOL's commitment to foster a quality work place for all its employees, DOL provides a child care subsidy to DOL families to assist them in their efforts to obtain quality, licensed day care for dependent children through the age of 13 and disabled children through the age of 18.
• On-Site Child Care and Development Centers – DOL was one of the first federal agencies to establish an onsite day-care center. On-Site Child Care and Development Centers are available to our employees in some locations nationwide. Onsite or near-site day-care centers also are available in many of the Department's regional locations.
• Dependent Care Research and Referral – DOL's prepaid life events management service offers extensive services help with prenatal planning; adoption preparation; child care; school profiling; college and financial aid planning; adult care; and temporary or specialized care for dependents of all ages. This service lessens the time and stress associated with caring for loved ones and to relieve the tension between home obligations and work responsibilities. It serves those employees with dependent care needs as well as those without any care giving responsibilities who may need assistance locating a support group or balancing their work and personal lives.
• Emergency Back-Up Dependent Care – Temporary or short-term care designed to help employees on those days when they are scheduled to work and their regular care arrangements are disrupted either expectedly (due to scheduled closing, holidays, vacations, etc.) or unexpectedly (due to illness, inclement weather, or other emergencies, etc.).

Additional Benefits

Other benefits that may be available include:

• Assistive Services and Technology – Through the Central Office of Assistive Services and Technology, DOL assists and coordinates services and technical support for providing access and reasonable accommodations to DOL clients and employees with disabilities.
• Employee recognition program – DOL recognizes the contributions of its employees in numerous ways. Our employees are eligible for monetary and/or non-monetary recognition such as the Secretary's Annual Honor Awards Programs for individual or team accomplishments that contribute to meeting the Department's goals.
• Tuition reimbursement – In certain cases, to enable DOL Agencies to recruit or retain highly qualified employees for hard-to-fill positions, DOL can provide assistance to employees with paying off their student loans.
• Transportation subsidies – DOL provides a transit subsidy to DOL employees to encourage the use of public transportation.
• Pre-Tax Parking – Employees can reduce their taxable income by the amount they actually pay for ‘qualified parking expenses’ (up to IRS maximum). Qualified parking is defined as ‘parking near or at the employees’ place of business or parking located near or at a place from which employees commute to work by mass transit, commuter highway vehicles, vanpools or carpools.
• Bicycle Commuting Reimbursement Subsidy – DOL provides a reimbursement to defray some of the cost a bicycle commuter may incur. Eligible employees may be reimbursed up to the IRS maximum, toward qualified bicycle commuting expenses. Employees are eligible if they use a non-motorized bicycle for a substantial (50% or greater) portion to travel between their residence and worksite in a given month.
• Fitness centers – Fitness is an important part of staying healthy and productive at work and at home. The Department of Labor Fitness Center, in the Frances Perkins Building, Washington, D.C., was established in 1988 to help reduce stress and improve the health of employees. Center memberships are available to eligible employees and contractors for a nominal fee. Employee memberships can be paid through payroll deductions. Regional facilities, sometimes shared with other federal agencies, can be found in some of the regional locations. In the regional offices, employees may be eligible for fitness subsidies to assist with their fitness center membership dues.
• Health Services – A variety of basic health services are available to DOL employees either at on-site health units, such as in the national office or through local health units in the regional cities. Some of the basic health services include: assessment, treatment, counseling and referral for minor illnesses and injuries, immunizations, and health screening programs.
• Additional DOL Leave Programs
  • Leave Bank Program – The Leave Bank is a pooled fund of donated annual leave. This pooled leave is then available for use by Bank members who need such leave because of a medical emergency. The Leave Bank Program permits DOL employees to join a bank and donate one pay periods leave accrual in order to apply for leave in the event of a medical emergency.
  • Voluntary Leave Transfer Program – The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program permits DOL employees to donate annual leave to other specifically identified employees who need such leave because of a medical emergency.

  Benefits information is also available on individual USAJOBS.gov job postings