EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS OF THE US DISTRICT COURT

Welcome to the employment web site for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Here you will find a link to all current openings with the U.S. District Court and a list of benefits all full time and part time permanent employees of the U.S. District Court are eligible to receive. Please review our current openings and submit your application and resume of qualifications to the Personnel Department so we may commence the hiring process.

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan offers employees the option to participate in two types of health insurance plans; a Fee-For-Service Plan or a Prepaid Comprehensive Medical or Health Maintenance Plan. Participation in either plan is voluntary. New employees have 60 days from commencement of employment to enroll. Health insurance coverage is effective at the beginning of the following pay period in which the Human Resources Department receives the employee’s Health Insurance Election Form. The Government shares the cost of the total premium up to 75% regardless of the plan the employee selects. Also, employees are able to participate in the Premium Conversion program which allows for payment of health premiums on a pre-tax basis.

This account consists of the Health Care Reimbursement Account and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account.

The Health Care Reimbursement Account is used to set aside pre-taxed money in order to reimburse costs that are not covered by the medical, dental, or optical portion of the employee's health insurance.

The Dependent Care Reimbursement Account is generally used to cover dependent care expenses incurred as a result of the employee and his or her spouse working or seeking employment, or the employee's spouse attending school full-time.

	Years of Service		Accrued Annual Leave
	Less Than 3 Years		4 Hours Per Pay Period (13 Days Per Year)
	3 - 15 Year		6 Hours Per Pay Period (20 Days Per Year)
	15+ Years		8 Hours Per Pay Period (26 Days Per Year)

For the first three years, employees earn 13 accrued paid annual leave per year. After their third year, they earn 20 days.

Every full time employee receives 4 hours of accrued paid sick leave per pay period regardless of the number of years they have served with the U.S. District Court.

The U.S. District Court has set up this program to assist employees with the cost of commuting to and from work. Employees are able to pay for certain mass transit and parking expenses incurred using pre-taxed money. Employees may set up two separate reimbursement accounts: Mass Transit Reimbursement Account and Parking Reimbursement Account. Under the Internal Revenue Code, employees may set aside a maximum of $100 per month towards mass transit expenses and a maximum of $185 per month towards parking expenses.

All new employees are automatically enrolled in the Basic Option of the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.htm Program unless the employee opts to waive insurance entitlement. If an employee waives their insurance entitlement and later decides to participate in the plan, the employee must wait until an Open Enrollment period or obtain a physical from a certified physician before becoming eligible for enrollment. The life insurance plan also offers employees the option to enroll in 3 additional levels beyond the Basic level: Standard, Additional, and Family. The Government pays one third of the cost of the employee's Basic term life insurance.

All employees hired after December 1983 participate in the flexible Federal Employees Retirement System. This program is comprised of three components: Social Security Benefits, an Annuity, and the Thrift Savings Plan. Employees pay the total Social Security taxes and approximately .08% of their annual salary is contributed to an Annuity base. The rest of the FERS program is dedicated to the Thrift Savings Plan.

The Thrift Savings Plan is similar to the private sector's 401(k) plan in that it allows all federal employees to participate in this defined contribution retirement savings and investment plan. It also offers savings and tax benefits. Employees may enroll in the Thrift Savings Plan immediately upon joining the U.S. District Court or opt to wait for an Open Enrollment (April - June and October - December annually). Upon enrolling in the plan, the employee may elect to split their contributions amongst 5 investment options available.

The TSP investment options include:

The Government will match employee contributions beginning six months after the employee begins employment with the U.S. District Court. At that time, the Government will contribute 1% to the employee's plan. The first 5% an employee contributes to the TSP is matched by the Government at a total of 4%.

The Civil Service Retirement System is comprised of 2 components: an Annuity and the Thrift Savings Plan. The largest portion of the employee's contributions goes towards the Annuity. The Government does not match employee contributions in this plan, and Social Security Benefits are not included in the plan. Employees who transferred from another Federal organization and were hired into the Federal System prior to December 1983 may continue to participate in CSRS or may transfer into the Federal Employees Retirement System.

New Years Day, January 1st
Martin Luther King Day, 3rd Monday in January
Washington's Birthday, 3rd Monday in February
Memorial Day, Last Monday in May
Independence Day, July 4th

Labor Day, 1st Monday in September
Columbus Day, 2nd Monday in October
Veterans Day, November 11th
Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November
Christmas Day, December 25th

There are a few other wonderful programs available to employees in addition to the programs listed above. Employees enter these other programs as private consumers. These benefits include: