Benefits Information

IMSG’s competitive benefits are as diverse as our employees. We encourage all of our employees to share ideas for new or increased benefits and give annual feedback on existing benefits.

IMSG offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Paid Vacation and Federal Holidays
• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• 401K
• Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Education Reimbursement
• Professional Membership
• Incentive Awards
• Employment Referral Bonuses
• Immigration Support
• Publication Incentive Program

Paid Vacation and Federal Holidays
Paid Leave: Vacation is accrued each pay period and the amount accrued varies according to length of service—15 days per year increasing to 20 days per year after 3 years, and 25 days after 5 years. Incumbent NOAA contract personnel receive leave based upon a revised seniority date taking into consideration prior NOAA and other government service.

Additional Paid Leave: 10 (Federal) Holidays per year, Jury Duty, Bereavement, Military Reserve Obligations.

Medical
IMSG offers three plan options under the Carefirst-Blue Cross-Blue Shield. Plan options include a PPO, a regional HMO, or an HRA. A fourth plan option is available to employees who reside in US territories. The PPO, HRA, and international plan all offer health care at no cost to employee’s who opt for individual coverage. Employees are eligible for Health coverage on the first day of the month following the date of hire.

Dental
IMSG provides Dental service under the Guardian dental network. IMSG covers 100% of preventative treatment. Basic dental procedures are covered at 100% and major dental procedures are covered at 75%. IMSG’s dental coverage begins the first day of the month following hire and is provided at no cost to employee’s choosing individual coverage.

Flexible Spending Account
IMSG allows employees to deduct money pre-tax from their payroll. This money is set up in an account that employees can put claims against for the cost of medical and dependent care expenses not normally covered by insurance. Employees are given the convenience of using a debit card to access these funds.

There are 3 main types of accounts available to IMSG employees:

• Health Care Spending Account
• Dependent Care Spending Account
• Transportation Account (Parking and Metro)

Please visit www.choicecarecard.com for more details.

401k Plan
IMSG provides participation in a 401k retirement plan under Hartford Retirement Services. We match 100% of an employee’s contribution up to 2% of their gross wages. All employees are eligible to participate (fulltime, part-time, and temporary employees). 401k participation begins the first day of the month following hire and is available to part-time and full-time employees. There is no vesting period or waiting period for match and the employer match begins with the first employee contribution.

Disability
IMSG full-time employees have access to disability coverage after 30 days of employment. IMSG covers 100% of the cost of Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability Insurance. Disability coverage is under the Hartford Insurance Company and provides 66% of an employee’s missed wages for up to 13 weeks of short-term disability after which time long term disability is provided.

Life Insurance
IMSG provides life insurance through Hartford at no cost to the employee. Life Insurance is provided to fulltime eligible employees and is paid out at one and a half times the employee’s annual salary. Life insurance is capped at a $350,000 payout.

Education Reimbursement
Employees are eligible for education reimbursement after one year of employment. The company covers up to $2,500 for Undergraduate courses and $5,000 for Graduate courses per year in the individual’s professional area.

Professional Membership
IMSG provides reimbursement for up to $1,000 per year for professional society membership fees and professional publication subscriptions.

Incentive Awards
IMSG provides up to $1,000 per employee for exceptional service leading to internal and customer satisfaction.

Employee Referral Bonus
IMSG shall reward an employee who refers a successful candidate with a finder’s fee of up to but not exceeding $5,000. Referral bonuses are based on the level of the position, the experience required, and the length of time the position has been open.

Immigration Support
IMSG pays all legal fees starting with Training Visa (F-1) or Work Visa (H-1) applications through obtaining a Green Card. Support continues until award of U.S. Citizenship and is provided for the full duration of IMSG employment for the employee but within the limits of the IMSG Immigration Support Program.

Publication Incentive Program
IMSG employees publish dozens of articles each year. In addition to publication in scientific journals and government sponsored publications, employees participate in poster presentations at numerous conferences and gatherings. As a result, IMSG rewards employees for this extra effort. Publication bonuses are one time bonuses awarded based on the type of publication, the location of the employee name within the list of authors (first, second, other places in author list), and range in level from $150 to $250 per publication.