Career Benefits

State of Alaska Employee Benefits Summary

Working for the State of Alaska offers competitive compensation and benefit packages to match the needs of our workforce. We provide our employees with a full spectrum of benefits which represents a significant part of the employee’s total compensation package. Below is a brief summary of benefits offered to eligible employees.

Health Insurance

When you are a State of Alaska employee, the specific insurance offerings are different based on the type of service you are in. The vast majority of employees receive a monthly benefit credit that they can use to cover costs associated with a variety of insurance offerings. Eligible employees and their families are offered comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and audio insurance coverage, as well as basic Life and Accidental, Death and Dismemberment (AD&D). While most plans require an employee contribution, this amount is dependent on the amount coverage that you and/or family need. For more information, contact the Division of Retirement & Benefits section at (907) 465-4460 or visit their web site at: http://www.state.ak.us/drb/.

Retirement

State of Alaska employees currently are members or participants of four retirement plans, the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) Tiers I, II, III, and IV. Participation in these plans are determined by the date you first entered a PERS covered position. If this position will be your first PERS covered position in Alaska, then you will be a participant of PERS Tier IV, Alaska’s new Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) plan.

As a participant of the PERS Tier IV, you are immediately vested in all of your contributions to your personal retirement savings account. After just two years of service, you will also vest 25% of the employer contributions, after 5 years of service you become 100% vested in all employer contributions.

Not only do all of these retirement programs have a financial side, but they can also offer disability benefits, medical insurance in retirement, and other fringe benefits.

For more information on all of these retirement plans, visit Retirement and Benefits website at: http://www.state.ak.us/drb/.

Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan

The Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan is a portion of the employee’s wages and a matching employer contribution. This plan is a defined contribution governed by section 401 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are made pre-tax to this plan instead of contributions to Social Security. More information about this plan may be viewed on the Retirement and Benefits website at: http://doa.alaska.gov/drb/sbs_ap/index.html.

Leave

Eligible employees begin accruing personal leave at 1.8 days per month. That is 21 days in your first year! This amount of leave is what you start with, and at 2, 5, 10, and 15 years of service your leave accrual increases. The leave that you accrue actually has a cash value and can be cashed in while you are actively employed. In addition, the state provides the following leave benefits:

• FMLA/AFLA;
• Jury/Court;
• Military; and
• Donated.

Holidays

Eligible employees are entitled 11 paid holidays annually: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Seward’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Alaska Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.

Growth Opportunities

The State of Alaska is dedicated to providing opportunities for our employees to develop personally and professionally. That’s why we offer many avenues and opportunities for continuous learning and career development.

• State sponsored training
• On-the-job training
• Creative and challenging work assignments
• Promotional opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement (in some instances)
• Participation on cross-agency task teams

Dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCAP)

This optional benefit plan is designed for employees who have eligible expenses for one or more dependent(s) for daycare provided inside or outside of the home while the employee (and if married – the employee’s spouse) works, looks for work or attends school full-time.

State employees who are eligible and enroll in the plan have pre-tax contributions withheld from their pay and later file claims in order to be reimbursed.

Health Flexible Spending Account (Health FSA)

This plan is an optional benefit plan to contribute to the Health FSA through pretax payroll deductions. This allows State employees to use pretax dollars for reimbursement of health expenses incurred by themselves and their eligible dependents which are not paid under any other health plan or policy.

Employee Assistant Program

The Employee Assistant Program provides confidential counseling assistance to employees and their immediate family members for work or personal related issues.

Flexible Scheduling Options

Most employees work a 37.5 hour workweek, with standard hours of 8:00 am—4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. However, many divisions and supervisors offer flexible working schedules options depending on the responsibilities of the position.

U.S. Savings Bonds

Employees have the opportunity to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds and pay for them through automatic payroll deduction. The following are the employees purchasing options:

Dell Computer & Microsoft Software Discounts

With the State of Alaska’s Enterprise Agreements, Dell USA and Microsoft Corporation each have pricing agreements with the state that include special pricing for state employees.

Dell USA offers employees to purchase computers and other equipment with discounts ranging from 3% to 12% off of the internet pricing for home use.

Microsoft offers a Home Use Program that allows employees to purchase a licensed copy of Microsoft Office Professional to install on a home computer. The only fees associated with this program cover the cost of media (CD) and shipping. In addition, there is also an Employee Purchase Program that offers discounts on selected Microsoft products including software, hardware, games and books. Up to three fully licensed versions of software can be purchased under this program.