The City provides its employees with a comprehensive package of benefits. For in-depth information about the various benefits please consult the Employee Handbook. The information below provides you with summary information and reference links to more information regarding these benefits.
Health Benefits
Retirement Benefits
Leave Policy
Disability
Tuition Reimbursement/Employee Development Fund
Training Opportunities
Commuter Benefits Program
Other Benefits
HEALTH BENEFITS
Eligibility
The following employees are eligible for health coverage:
- All permanent employees of the City whose normal work week at the time of inclusion in the system is not less than 20 hours;
- All regularly scheduled provisional employees of the City whose normal work week at the time of inclusion in the system is not less than 20 hours;
- All other employees of the City including temporary exempt as needed employees, who have worked more than 1040 hours in any consecutive 12 month period and whose normal work week at the time of inclusion in the system is not less than 20 hours.
Coverage for employees under condition (1) and (2) starts on the first day of the pay period following your start work date, provided you submit a completed enrollment application and other documentation, if requested. Coverage for employees under condition (3) will be determined by the Health Service System upon application.
For More Information
Contact the Health Service System by telephone at (415) 554-1750 or visit the office at 1145 Market Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco for details about the benefits, contribution rates of available plans or any of the other information presented in this section.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
The City provides retirement benefits to eligible employees through the San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS). SFERS is a defined benefit plan funded by the combination of employee contributions, employer contributions and investment earnings. SFERS administers over 10 different retirement plans. The terms of the plans are set forth in the City Charter and ordinances. SFERS has published summary plan descriptions for its different retirement plans, which can be found under "publications" at the "Employees Retirement System" section of sfgov.org.
Eligibility and Plan Membership
SFERS administers separate plans for safety members of the police department, safety members of the fire department, and all other "miscellaneous" employees. These plans provide different benefits to their members. In general, a police officer and firefighter become members of SFERS upon his or her first day of work as a police officer or a firefighter. (Employees are not members of the safety plans while they are training to become a police officer or a firefighter.) A miscellaneous employee becomes a member of SFERS when first certified from a Civil Service list as a permanent employee in a covered classification; or appointed to a full-time permanent position in a covered classification; or worked in a temporary position in a covered classification for more than 1,040 hours in any twelve-month period.
For more information about San Francisco's retirement benefits, please go to Employee Retirement Systems.
LEAVE POLICY
Annual Leave: The City provides annual vacations for employees who work a regular schedule and who have completed one year or more of continuous service. Certain temporary exempt employees may also be eligible for vacation benefits. You are not eligible to use vacation in the first year of continuous service. For the purpose of computing vacation, most employees may be credited with no more than 2080 hours of service in a 12-month period.
The maximum vacation entitlement in any 12-month period and maximum accrual permitted for most employees are as follows:
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1 through 5 years: 80 hours (10 days), maximum accrual 320 hours (40 days)
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More than 5 years: 120 hours (15 days), max. 360 hours (45 days)
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More than 15 years: 160 hours (20 days), max. 400 hours (50 days)
Uniformed members of the Fire Department may have different allotments depending on their schedules. These employees should consult their department's procedures for details.
Sick Leave: If you work full time, you earn 13 8-hour working days per year of paid sick leave. Unused sick leave may be accumulated from year to year up to a maximum of 130 8-hour working days.
For policies on the leave types listed below, please consult the Employee Handbook:
- Military Leave
- Family Care Leave
- Jury Duty Leave
- Educational Leave
- Religious Leave
- Leave to Accept Other City & County Employment
- Personal Leave
- Family Medical Leave (FMLA)
- Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
- Leave Extension
- Leave Abridgement
STATE DISABILITY INSURANCE (SDI) AND PAID FAMILY LEAVE
If you are in a job classification approved for coverage under the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program, you are eligible for SDI benefits if you become unable to work due to a non-work related injury or illness. For more information on eligibility and benefit levels, see the state Employment Development Department's website at http://www.edd.ca.gov/direp/diind.htm.
If you are eligible for SDI, you are also covered by the California Paid Family Leave Insurance Program. This program provides the same benefits as the SDI program for employees who take time off from work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent, or to bond with a new child. Additional information about this program is available at http://www.edd.ca.gov/direp/pflind.asp.
You may be able to supplement your SDI or PFL payments with sick leave, vacation, or other paid leave. The total amount you receive from SDI, PFL and accrued paid leave may not exceed your full salary. Please consult your collective bargaining agreement or your departmental personnel officer regarding supplementing SDI or PFL payments with accrued paid leave.
SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
Generally, all employees except uniformed members of the Police and Fire Departments are enrolled in the Federal Social Security System and are subject to Social Security tax deductions from paychecks. However, employees who are not covered by the Retirement System and who defer specified minimum amounts under the City's Deferred Compensation Program will not be covered under the Old Age and Survivors Disability Insurance portion of Social Security and will not have to pay that particular portion of the tax. Consult your departmental personnel officer for information. In general, all employees are covered under the Medicare portion of Social Security except for employees hired before April 1, 1991, who are covered by other portions of Social Security. The tax for Hospital Insurance is also deducted from your paycheck.
COMMUTER BENEFITS PROGRAMS
The Commuter Benefits Program is a qualified transportation benefit (QTB) that is approved by the IRS. As a CBP participant, your estimated eligible monthly commuting costs will be deducted from your pre-tax salary to pay for eligible transit and vanpooling expenses. With both online and telephone access, enrollment is easy and convenient for new participants. And, employees can save up to 40% on commuting, public transit and vanpooling costs by using pre-tax dollars.
For more information, click on the Commuter Benefits Program PDF.
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT/EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FUND
If you wish to take classes to improve your job skills or to prepare for a promotion, you may be eligible for tuition reimbursement. Limited funds have been set aside for this purpose.
For specific information, contact your departmental personnel officer or the Department of Human Resources, Employee Relations Compensation Team, One South Van Ness, 4th Floor telephone (415) 557-4990 or visit the Tuition Reimbursement web page.
OTHER BENEFITS
Credit Unions
As a City employee, you are eligible to join one of the following Credit Unions for savings, low cost loans through payroll deduction and other services. Call the appropriate Credit Union for further information:
Special discounts for City Employees:
