IRS.gov

[Close]

Here are the basics on what you’ll receive as an IRS employee:

Health Insurance

Choose from several health insurance options, including supplemental dental and vision.

• Health Insurance: FEHB provides health insurance plans to fit you and your family’s needs and budget. The IRS pays approximately 2/3 of your health insurance premium. You may be eligible to carry your health insurance coverage into retirement.
• Supplemental Dental and Vision Insurance: Federal Employee Dental and Vision provides insurance to federal employees. You must be eligible for the FEHB program to be eligible to enroll.

Learn more about federal health care insurance options.

Long Term Care

The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) lets you plan for healthcare coverage you may need in the future, as well as comprehensive coverage if you become unable to care for yourself. So you’ll have help paying for nursing home, assisted living facility, home health, hospice, respite, and other long-term care services.

Flexible Spending Accounts

Save more of your money by applying it to a tax-lowering Flexible Spending Account that enables you to set aside money for certain health care and dependent care expenses each year.

Federal Retirement

Although retirement may be in your distant future, you know you’ll need it someday. So launch your career with one of the best retirement systems in the world. The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is comprised of three components: a basic benefit (annuity), a Social Security benefit, and the Thrift Savings Plan (like a 401(k) plan). In short, FERS:

• Allows you to take the Social Security and Thrift Savings Plan components to your next place of employment, even if you leave federal employment.
• Provides benefits for retirement, disability and survivors.

The Thrift Savings Plan

Often called the TSP, this plan is similar to the 401(k) savings and tax benefits plans available in the private sector. Here’s how you can build your “nest egg”:

• We’ll set up and automatically contribute 1% of your basic pay toward your Thrift Savings Plan account, whether you contribute to it or not.
• If you do contribute to the TSP, we’ll match your contributions dollar for dollar up to 3%, and 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2%.
• All of your contributions will be made from pre-tax dollars, and your investments and earnings will be tax deferred until you withdraw them.
• Five Thrift Savings Plan investment funds are available for you to choose from.
• You may transfer money from other eligible retirement savings plans into your Thrift Savings Plan account.
• In some cases, you can borrow against your Thrift Savings Plan.
• If you change federal employment, your Thrift Savings Plan will go with you.

Life Insurance

At the IRS, not only do we pay for 1/3 of your basic premium, but basic coverage allows you to elect and pay for optional coverage for yourself or certain family members. You can choose from a wide variety of life insurance coverage through the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance.

Flexible Work Life Programs

We’re committed to helping you balance your work and family life through these great programs:

• Flexible Hours: Pursue your work opportunities on a schedule that works for you.
• Telework: Your job and work assignments may allow you to work from home or other work sites.
• Transportation Subsidy: We’ll help you pay for your monthly commuting costs to and from work. These benefits are not taxable and are not included on Form W-2.
• Health Care Unit: Flu vaccines, allergy shots, smoking cessation programs and health risk assessments are just a sampling of the health services you can participate in.
• Fitness Centers: Stay in shape at our fitness centers, collocated in more than 25 IRS facilities across the country. There is no membership fee.
• Credit Unions: We help make banking convenient for you. Many of our facilities have a credit union on premises.
• Cafeterias: Hungry? Grab a bite to eat at our on-location cafeterias that serve breakfast and lunch.
• Employee Assistance and Work/Life Referral Services: If you need help overcoming stressful issues or personal concerns, our Employee Assistance Program is here for you and your immediate family members. Services are confidential and free, around the clock.
• Child Care: GSA manages in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We work with them to provide on-site child care at 10 of our IRS facilities.
• Leave Share Program: Help others, help yourself. This program allows our full- and part-time employees to donate their leave time. Then, if someone’s regular leave share is exhausted and they need to handle a medical emergency, the leave bank can provide them with more time off.
• Employee Suggestion Program: Some of the best ideas for improving our work efficiency and environment have come from people like you. And you could receive up to 25% of the tangible first-year savings that result from your suggestion if it’s adopted.

Training and Development

You want to improve your skills, grow professionally and attain your career goals. Our goal is to give you all the tools and opportunities to do that. So we’ll encourage you to establish a Career Learning Plan to identify your general, specialty or technical training needs. Then you can take advantage of our wide variety of professional development and training resources, such as:

• On-the-Job Training: Experienced instructors work with you to help you learn the important aspects of your job.
• Classroom Training: Learn what can help you achieve more in your occupation from highly skilled classroom instructors.
• Distance Learning: If you can’t attend classroom training, you may participate in distance learning training options.
• Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Career Development Opportunities: Most organizations within IRS host CPEs each year. You’ll come together with other employees over several days to learn about specialized topics and issues.
• Continued Education: Our Tuition Assistance program pays for your approved college courses, which you attend during your own personal time. You can enroll in up to four mission-related college-level courses per year that improve your current job skills or support your career development goals. Books and other related fees are included.
• E-Learning: We have a library of more than 2,000 Web-based courses, including Accounting and Finance, Leadership, Computer Software Applications, Customer Service, Project Management, Management, Communication, Human Resources, Team Building, and more. These courses are free for you to take, any time of day.
• Books 24x7 Referenceware: You’ll have full access at work and home to this online library of the best business and technology books. It’s free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[Close]

When you need, it, you can look forward to enjoying your Annual Leave (vacation), or taking Sick Leave when you or a family member need to focus on health issues. But we also give you time to take care of other life events through:

• Family and Medical Leave: Take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of your child, if you adopt a child, or if you need to care for a seriously ill immediate family member.
• Court Leave: You’ll be free to fulfill your civic obligation of jury duty or to perform as a witness in a court proceeding where one of the parties is a government entity.
• Organ and Bone Marrow Donation: You’ll receive up to 30 days paid leave, in addition to your Annual and Sick Leave, if you donate an organ — or 7 days paid leave if you make a bone marrow donation.
• Blood Donation: You may take up to 4 hours of paid leave off to donate blood, in addition to your Annual and Sick Leave.
• Voting: When the voting polls are not open at least three hours before and/or after your regular work hours, you may take some time off to vote, in addition to your Annual and Sick Leave.

Plus, see what days you get off, just for being a federal employee.

[Close]

The IRS is in need of your top talent and we’re prepared to pay you top dollar for it. So we’ll do whatever we can to bring you on board and keep you with us. That includes ensuring you get the highest possibly salary you qualify for. Here’s how:

• We’ll match your education and experience to the “General Schedule” — the federal pay system.
• The General Schedule includes 15 “grades,” from GS-1 up to GS-15. Each grade is made up of “steps,” from step 1 to step 10, which provide a pay increase within the grade.
• As a college grad with a bachelor’s degree but no work experience, you could qualify for GS-05; if you meet our superior academic achievement criteria, you may qualify at the GS-07 level. And, if you’ve earned a master’s degree, you may qualify for GS-09.
• Your work location will determine any additional “locality pay” for your geographic area. This amount ranges from 7% to 15%, and is paid in addition to your basic pay.

Find out more about how your education and academic achievement will affect your pay grade.

Learn all about federal salaries and locality pay.

[Close]

As a federal employee, in addition to a great starting salary, you may receive pay increases in the form of:

• Step increases
• Performance bonuses
• Annual across-the-board pay increases determined by the President

[Close]

IRS employees are among the most recognized and rewarded individuals in government. We’re proud to recognize our employees:

• On the basis of merit, for commendable job performance, special acts or services, or other notable contributions.
• Individually, or as part of a team or workgroup, with informal recognition for specific accomplishments, cash incentives or honors under formal awards programs.

[Close]

Sometimes the work you’re doing may call for more than 40 hours a week. Since that may not offer you the best work/life balance, we try to make up for it by providing premiums in addition to time-and-a-half pay. So when you’re required to work more than 8 hours in a day, or more than 40 hours in a week, you’ll receive extra pay.