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Benefits of Working At FEMA

Two FEMA employees outside. Man is giving thumbs up.

We provide our employees with a first-class benefit package, including health insurance, life insurance, retirement, 10 paid holidays per year, vacation time, and more.

In addition, we offer training/career development opportunities, and flexible work schedules.

Benefits We Offer

Specific benefits vary by employee type. Learn more about the different career paths at FEMA.

Health and Insurance

We offer a variety of coverage to employees, including:

Learn more about federal benefits.

Vacation Time and Sick Leave

We offer generous vacation and sick leave benefits, as well as 10 paid holidays per year to our employees.

Overtime

During declared disasters employees are compensated for working additional hours beyond their 40-hour work week.

Reservists (Part-Time Employee) Benefits

Reservist benefit eligibility is based on time spent in a deployed or paid status.

Work-Life Balance

We understand the balancing act between work and personal life. FEMA helps restore the balance by offering family-friendly health and wellness benefits that give you flexibility and peace of mind.

Telework Opportunities

We believe that work is not where it occurs, but what is accomplished. With innovative telework policies and a nimble IT environment, you can access IT resources anywhere, anytime. Collaborating with your team is seamless, both inside and outside of the office.

Retirement

We provide a comprehensive retirement benefits plan, called the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS has three components:

1. Basic Retirement Benefit (Annuity)
2. Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is a 401(k)-type plan with choice of investment funds and government-matching contributions up to five percent.
3. Social Security

Former federal employees covered under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), please check the CSRS information on OPM.gov.

Training and Career Development

We know that training and career growth are important to you. We offer challenging, interesting and meaningful work, as well as a variety of training and professional development opportunities.

  • FEMA Education Knowledge Center, as well as our renowned Emergency Management Institute (EMI), provides in-person training and access to thousands of e-learning courses in management, leadership development, project management and IT.
  • Our competitive development program provides future and current leaders with the skills and development opportunities required to meet our agency’s evolving needs.

Survivor Benefits

Survivor benefits may be payable to a surviving spouse upon the death of an active federal employee. If you are a relative or employee reporting the death of a FEMA employee, we are very sorry for your loss.

An "active federal employee" means that at the time of the employee’s death, the employee was still on the agency’s pay rolls. Benefits may also be payable to surviving children and former spouses depending on the situation.

A benefits counselor will provide specific information to the family members. To contact the benefits staff, please send an email fema-hc-benefits@fema.dhs.gov and provide the following information:

  • Deceased name
  • Date of death
  • Your contact information, including name and phone number
  • Supervisor’s contact information, including name and phone number