Paid Leave
The Laboratory offers its employees several types of paid absences, covering recreation, illness, and military and civic obligations. Earned vacation leave is based on staff level and years of service -- from 15 to 25 days annually. After 1 year of service, staff members may also qualify for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for personal illnesses, to care for ill family members, or after the birth or adoption of a child.
Health Insurance Options
APL offers medical insurance to meet the needs of staff members and their families. Covered services from designated providers generally require small co-payments; covered services received outside the designated provider network (opt-out benefits) are covered at 70% after a deductible amount is satisfied. Two dental insurance plans cover preventive, diagnostic, and restorative services for employees and their eligible dependents.
Flexible Spending Accounts
Through the Laboratory's Beneflex program, APL staff members choose a set of benefits tailored to meet their individual needs. These benefits may be obtained with tax-free credits provided yearly by the Laboratory or with the staff member's own before-tax dollars. If an employee does not elect to use all the credits to obtain the benefit options, those credits may be converted to additional taxable pay.
The program includes two tax-free spending accounts for qualified health care and dependent day care expenses. Life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, accidental death, and travel accident insurance coverage are also provided. Optional higher coverage levels are available for life, disability, and accidental death insurance. Government-mandated benefits (Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, and Workers' Compensation) are also included with the overall benefits package.
FlexTime
APL offers flexible working schedules wherever possible, consistent with its government contracts and business requirements. Our standard business hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Adjusted work schedules may be negotiated at the supervisor's discretion.
Pension Plan
APL offers a defined-contribution pension plan with immediate vesting. After one year of service, the Laboratory makes a basic contribution to the pension plan for each employee and also matches up to 4% of employee contributions on a $2 to $1 basis. Employees can elect to make tax-deferred contributions prior to becoming eligible for the Laboratory’s contributions. Funds can be invested in a wide range of employee-directed options.
Continuing Education
APL encourages and assists staff members to further their formal education. Our Part-Time Study Program pays tuition and laboratory fees for approved courses or programs, either through prepayment or reimbursement. The program also allows for educational leave as well as for work schedule rearrangement.
Staff members may take up to 18 credits per year with supervisory approval (part-time staff may take up to 9 credits per year). Educational leave and work schedule rearrangement are also available to all full-time and regular part-time staff members as part of the educational assistance benefits package.
Master's degree programs are offered through the Engineering Programs for Professionals, which is a collaboration between APL and the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. The courses are scheduled for convenience in late afternoon or evenings. Many of them are offered on the APL campus. Other schools within an hour's drive of APL offer a wide variety of career-related educational programs and opportunities for advanced degrees.
Dependent Scholarship Program
Dependent children of all APL full-time and part-time (with the equivalent of at least 5 years of full-time service at the Laboratory) staff members are eligible to apply for college tuition scholarship grants. The scholarships are awarded competitively on the basis of SAT scores and high school academic records.
Child Care Assistance
APL staff have access to a computerized resource and referral service that helps parents identify and choose child care best suited to their needs, preferences, and ability to pay. LOCATE Child Care Services also offers parents information on all regulated center-based care facilities, family child care, nursery schools, kindergartens, and Head Start programs available in their neighborhood or near their workplace.
With a phone call staff members can receive a customized list of daycare providers meeting their criteria that have available openings. Counselors provide information on specific child care alternatives and can even suggest questions to ask potential caregivers.
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Benefits Package