Fairfax County Employee Benefits

Below is a summary of the benefits program offered to merit system Fairfax County employees. For more detail, you may download the current Employee Benefit Summary Handbook in pdf format. The handbook shows current rates for all benefit programs including health, dental and life insurance. (The pdf format requires that the Adobe Acrobat Reader be installed on your computer.)

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• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Plan
• Annual Leave
• Sick Leave
• Paid Holidays
• Periodic Salary Reviews
• Group Term Life Insurance
• Contributory Retirement Plan
• Deferred Compensation
• Two Flexible Spending Programs
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Care Plan
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Employees' Child Care Center
• Virginia College Savings Plan

Health Insurance

(Premiums Are Tax Exempt)

• Individual, two party, and family coverage available.
• County pays 85 percent of cost for individual coverage, and 75 percent of cost for two-party or family coverage.

Point of Services Plans: The FairChoice+Blue Choice plan combines the best features of a health maintenance organization (HMO) and a traditional indemnity plan. The Blue Choice network covers Northern Virginia, Suburban Maryland and Washington.

Blue Preferred PPO is a preferred provider plan with both in-network and out-of-network benefits. Employees may self refer to doctors.

CIGNA Open Access Plus is a preferred provider plan with both in-network and out-of-network benefits. Employees may self refer to doctors.

HMO's - Kaiser Permanente

Dental Insurance

(Premiums Are Tax Exempt)

The county currently offers Delta Dental DPPO in addition to the limited dental coverage available with two of the health plans. Individual, two party and family coverage is offered. The county pays 50% of the premium.

Vision Plan

The Davis Vision plan is provided at no cost to employees covered by county health insurance. It offers low cost eye exams and discounts for eyeglasses and contact lenses with both in-network and out-of-network benefits. Discounts are also available for laser vision correction services.

Annual Leave

Employees with less than 3 years of service earn 13 days of annual leave per year; between 3 and 15 years of service, 19 ½ days per year, over 15 years of service, 26 days per year. Employees may accumulate 30 days of annual leave (40 days after 10 years of service).

Sick Leave

Employees earn 13 days per year with unlimited accumulation.

Paid Holidays

Employees receive 11-½ paid holidays per year.

Periodic Salary Reviews

This is to ensure competitive salary structure.

Group Term Life Insurance

All benefit eligible employees receive county-paid term life insurance coverage equal to their annual salary (rounded to the nearest thousand). Employees have the option of an additional one, two, three, or four times annual salary, rounded up to the nearest thousand, at age-banded rates. Employees can choose between two dependent coverage options:

OPTION	MONTHLY PREMIUM	SPOUSE / CHILD COVERAGE AMOUNT
Low	$2.64	$6,250.00 / $2,500.00
High	$5.30	$12,500 / $6,250

 

Contributory Retirement Plan

(Contributions Tax Deferred)

Fairfax County administers three defined benefit retirement systems: 

• The Fairfax County Employees' Retirement System
• The Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System
• The Fairfax County Uniformed Retirement System

Each of these plans includes disability provisions and survivors benefits. The amount of employee contribution is determined by the provisions of the plan. For detailed information on the county's retirement plans, visit the Retirement System home page.

Deferred Compensation

(Contributions and earnings are tax deferred)
For 2007, you may contribute up to $15,500 per year. If you are age 50 or older, you may contribute an additional $5,000 (total $20,500) per year. Contributions must be earnings deducted from your paycheck.

Two Flexible Spending Programs

Medical Spending Account
A flexible spending account that is designed to help pay for out-of-pocket health and dental expenses. Employees can set aside up to $5,000 pre-tax to pay for these expenses.

Dependent Care Assistance Program
A flexible spending account which allows employees to set aside up to $5,000 pre-tax for child care expenses resulting in a lower taxable income for the employee.

Long-Term Disability Insurance

The plan pays a benefit of up to 60% of your monthly basic earnings up to $3,500. Premiums are based on age and monthly salary.

Long-Term Care Plan

The long-term care plan provides a benefit when you are unable to perform at least two of six activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, transferring, toileting, and continence or when you have a severe cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease. You can choose from three core plans or you can customize your own plan. Benefits begin after a single 90-day waiting period. You are guaranteed the coverage if you enroll within 60 days of benefit eligibility. For more information, go to www.aetna.com/group/fairfaxcounty or call 800-537-8521.

Tuition Assistance Program

Funds are allocated each year by the Board of Supervisors to provide reimbursement to employees who work at least 20 hours per week and are eligible for other county benefits such as health and life insurance. Course work must be career-related and taken through an accredited institution. Click the link for more details about the county's Tuition Assistance Program.

Employees' Child Care Center

Located at the Government Center complex, the Child Care Center serves children from six weeks until kindergarten age. All county employees working 20 or more hours per week are eligible to enroll their age-eligible children, space permitting.

Virginia College Savings Plans

The county has agreed to sponsor the Virginia College Savings Plan to provide employees with information on VPEP and VEST and to provide lower investment fund expenses in the College America Plan. For more information, call the Financial Benefits Help Desk at 703-324-4995.

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 Questions about benefits with Fairfax County? E-mail us or call the Benefits Division at 703-324-4917.